Broken Wings
by Nina28
Summary: six years after the events that changed their lives forever, Seth Gecko and Kate Fuller cross paths again, for another fight. Past, present and future are at risk for the two of them. Will they survive? Will they defeat new demons and get rid of their own
1. Chapter 1

**Broken Wings**

**Disclaimer**: Seth Gecko, Kate Fuller and all the characters you recognize from "From Dusk Till Dawn" belong to Robert Kutzman, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez (aka _DA_ _MAN_…guys, by the way, _Sin_ _City_ rocked my world!) and all the rightful owners of the movie. The characters you don't recognize from the movie, are mine. No copyright infringement is intended. No money will be made out of this. _Broken Wings_ belongs to Alterbridge and Mark Tremonti, author of the words and music of the song. No copyright infringement is intended, as well.

_Indicate dreams_ ; _indicate thoughts _; indicate emphasis

Chapter 1

- The meeting -

_**F**ight the fight alone_

When the world is full of victims 

_Dims a fading light_

_in our souls_

_Leave the peace alone_

_Now we all are slowly changing_

_Dims a fading light_

_In our souls_

"_I _may be a bastard, but I'm not a fucking bastard"

Although it had been six years since she head heard those words, she still recalled them. Kate Fuller looked around as she sped up her pace.

She still recalled the sunbeams and how they had hit her flesh making the stench of blood in her hair and on her clothes more disgusting.

Despite Seth's words there hadn't been tears.

Not for that man…not for that goodbye.

She had been left alone and yet there hadn't been any tears, maybe because time for crying was over. Or maybe she had just run out of tears.

Six years.

Her life had changed after that night, so drastically that no one would have recognized her…if there had still been someone.

Kate, though, was alone.

She was alone, wandering from city to city.

She was alone, living in a Motor Home his father had bought for a vacation.

She was alone, sleeping during the day, gripping a cross in her closed fist, and with a gun hidden under her pillow.

She was alone, working in the seediest bars, with her eyes and ears open, constantly looking for them…for vampires, to kill them. She fought against each and any of them as if it was the first and last of their kind.

She was alone, and yet she couldn't help constantly looking for Seth. Was he still alive?

Her senses were used, after six years, to recognize them, to recognize the monsters hidden behind masks of flesh and blood, even when they were perfect, allowing them to blend among humans. To pretend they were until it was time for them to strike.

Her heart, rather, what was left of it, that kept hoping that he entered one of the bars where she had gotten used to working, and looked at her, making her feel alive, again.

She let slip a stake in her right hand, while she looked around. The Titty Twister had just been the first nest she had cleared off from vampires. There had been lots more after that.

Whole clans of vampires had been destroyed by her…and people like her.

She had quickly found out about another world, once she had started killing vampires, an underground world, filled with men and women who had dedicated their lives to killing vampires, just like her. It was a world where people were linked to one another, bound together. It was a world she used…refusing, though, to be part of it.

Because she worked alone. She stopped in a town long enough to do her job…and yet in every town, every hellhole she irrationally looked for him.

In every town, every hellhole she stopped in…she looked for Seth.

The others, the other vampire killers claimed she was as cold as ice, a bastard, even worst than the vampires she so efficiently killed.

Kate didn't smile.

Kate didn't make friends.

Kate killed vampires, without missing a beat.

And it didn't matter whether the vampires were men, women, kids or occasional partners during patrols. Once bitten it didn't make any difference.

Hesitation wasn't allowed. Feelings weren't allowed.

Kate…had left herself, her very soul in that burning hole in the middle of the desert.

And her heart had gone away in a red-blood convertible, under a Mexican morning sun, so different than that cold Canadian night. A starless night: perfect for that town's vampires.

She crossed the street, following her instincts, for some strange reason she always knew when she was being followed. If she was in that moment, and she wouldn't be surprised, they would come to her, one way or another.

Besides, she wasn't scared of humans. It had been a long time since a gun aimed at her head had had the power to scare her.

A long time since she had last screamed…or cried.

She spotted them, right away, a couple, walking not far away from her. The young woman was human, and lightly stoned.

He…the guy walking next to her, with an arm casually drooped around her shoulders was tall, dressed in a jeans and a sweater.

They both had been in the bar where she worked, but it had been him, she had really noticed. She had noticed the way he had gotten the girl drunk, the way he had played with her, dazing her with promises of pleasure, in the way he had kissed her, held her, touched her.

He was a vampire.

It had taken her just a look to recognize him, even before she had noticed his m.o. so similar to that of the many vampires she had killed over the years.

The girl was laughing, lightly hanging onto him, she had a hand in the pocket of her coat, probably looking for the keys of her apartment. She slowly got close to them, as the cold wind caressed her face and lightly ruffled her hair.

She was calm. She didn't feel a thing: no fear, no anticipation. Nothing.

Killing vampires didn't excite her.

Killing vampires didn't satisfy her.

She wasn't trying to avenge her family's death by killing those fucks.

She killed vampires because that was the only thing she knew how to do.

And she was good. She had been a fast learner and she had had a good teacher.

Kate got close to them, proceeding cautiously. As the years had gone by she had learnt to be as silent as vampires when she wanted to. She could see them more clearly, now: they were kissing, and she started to calculate the distance between them, wondering whether she would get there in time, before the vampire started feeding on the girl.

She strengthened her grip on the stake, deciding she would, just then the girl tilted her head up, breaking the kiss, offering her exposed neck to the vampire. And Kate had to stifle a groan.

Damn bimbo, she was making it all more difficult!

Kate kept getting closer, mentally counting up to ten, that was what it usually took to vampires to drop the human mask, to show their real faces, before they started feeding, thus creating other vampires.

She had a gun with her too, but she knew that she wouldn't probably have the time to use it. And besides, guns had that annoying, pesky habit to be as noisy as hell. Keeping a low profile was of the essence in her line of job.

The guy's face, a handsome face, as she had noticed that night, morphed into an ugly mask, a kind of a cross between a human and a feline when she attacked him.

No one expected such strength from her, neither vampires nor vampire killers. They didn't know, they couldn't even imagine the hours she spent training. They couldn't know how many hours she should have spent sleeping she filled with physical training, instead.

It still happened. It often happened: she would wake up with the breath caught in her throat, deafened by the beating in her chest, and the motor home, which suddenly became too big…too suffocating, almost as the womb of a big creature. A big, dead, creature.

As the years had gone by she had realized the worst dreams, weren't, as one would expect, the nightmares. Even the worst of them, were better than the dreams where she smiled, where she was happy with her family…or Seth.

Those were the worst dreams.

Those were the dreams that made her wake up, with eyes burning with unshed tears, and her body that refused to take in air…to let her breath.

When it happened the only antidote were sweat, muscles that ached for the effort she put them trough.

Kate was strong. She was strong enough to surprise the vampire long enough to save the girl. The vampire made a sound, very similar to a roar as he charged her. She moved, as quickly as she could, and the vampire missed her. She wasn't as swift as the motherfucker, but she was quick enough to confuse him.

She just had to prevent the son of a bitch who was now onto her to bite her. Not that she cared about living or dying; she just wanted to take out as many vampires as possible before dying.

She heard footsteps and cries, so the girl was getting the hell away. Well…that was good, at least one part of the mission was accomplished…now came the other part: killing the bloodsucker. First, she thought, gritting her teeth, she had to keep him away from her.

He was strong. Way strong. It had been a long time since she had met such a strong vampire.

The vampire looked at her and sneered as he got astride her; his face was a mask of excitement and anger. Yep…he was ugly alright.

The vampire's sneer became almost scornful when he said: "When I'm done with you, girlie, you'll be my bitch…but before that, I'll make sure you regret you were even born. It'll be slow. It'll be painful. I swear!"

The vampire gripped her right wrist and beat it against the cold pavement, and Kate let go of her hold on the stake, moaning, more in surprise than pain.

"I like it when you moan," He hissed: "and you're gonna do it a lot for me!"

Kate blinked her eyes open.

She wasn't afraid. She knew it would happen sooner or later.

She knew it wouldn't last forever.

Six years had been a long time for her to fight. The last six years had been almost as long as a lifetime for her.

She was just sorry she was going to die by that idiot's hand.

She was just sorry she hadn't had the chance to see Seth, one last time.

She closed her eyes, as the revolting vampire's face, kept getting close to her neck, and couldn't help shivering.

_That's it, honey. _She thought. _End of the road…_

She could feel the vampire's cold breath on her face, it was on her neck now and it was as rotten as his flesh. She tried one more time to free herself, but all for naught. He was really too strong for her.

She narrowed her eyes, wondering whether she was going to have enough time to blow her brains out before she became a bloodsucker. Her father, a servant of God, the best person she had ever met, had lasted half a hour after being bitten. How long would it take her?

She felt the vampire's coarse tongue, lick her neck for a second, before a voice…a voice she had thought she would ever hear again, screamed, "Hey! You fuck!"

Without even thinking, acting out of instinct, ignoring the frantic beating of her heart, she took advantage of the vampire's distraction, and kicked him, using his own body as a lever to get up.

She was efficient. She was as cold as ice.

She was a bastard, worse even than bloodsuckers. The stake rammed into the vampire's torso, as easily as usual; it was like plunging a burning knife into butter.

She took a step back, keeping herself away from the vampire's blood. She was panting, although she didn't even realize that. She remained detached, as she looked at all the blood, his flesh exploding sending pieces of if all around her.

"Kate?"

His voice…his voice sounded incredulous.

Six years.

She had waited for six years.

She had hoped for six years.

She slowly turned toward the voice: her heart…how long had it been since she had last heard it beating so fast in her chest? She honestly couldn't remember, and she didn't care, not in that moment.

Seth…

Seth was standing in front of her, just like in one of her dreams.

Seth.

He was dressed in black, draped in a long, black coat, looking almost like the hero of a fucking novel.

Seth, whose hair wasn't much longer than the last time they had seen each other; with just a bit of more gray on his temples and a stubble.

Seth, who was getting close to her.

Kate took a step back, while the world around her, all of her world faded to a dazzling white, before darkness claimed her, possessed her.

Her last thoughts, as Seth's arms caught her, breaking her fall, was that she hadn't forgotten about him.

Her last thoughts were of how the feel of his arms around her body was exactly as she recalled: even now it had the power to make her feel safe. She hadn't forgotten about him, she thought. She recalled every single detail.

She thought, as her eyes closed that even his scent was the same.


	2. Chapter 2

_W_hy was his life, always so fucking complicated?

Seth Gecko gritted his teeth, cradling the unconscious woman against his chest.

It had to be a routine patrol, before going to sleep. He had spotted the mother fucker that night when he had seen him going out from a seedy bar, with the chosen victim of the night: the usual blonde bimbo, who should have known better than pick up strangers in a bar.

He had followed the vampire – because he had known right away he was one, the hair on the back of his neck had stood up, alerting him – and had been ready to thrust the stake into his rotten heart and be done with it for the night.

Routine patrol his ass! He had come face to face with a girl he had hoped never to see again, after he had fucked up her life for good six years before: Kate Fuller.

He had tried to forget.

He had spent the first two months after that fateful night at the Titty Twister, totally smashed, uselessly trying to sleep. It had been all for naught…sleep had evaded him.

He, a killer…had been afraid of the dark.

He, a killer, had been afraid to close his eyes.

He, a killer, had spent those two months with his eyes wide open in the dark, getting shit faced, without feeling drunk, without feeling anything except for the fear.

He had tried to come back to his normal life, but his mind kept blocking, kept coming back to that night…and to Kate.

He had told her he was a bastard, but not a fucking bastard. He had kept thinking about those words even when, months after he had said them, had started looking for them. He had frenetically started looking for vampires, thinking that just by killing them he'd rest…and surprisingly enough, it had worked. He had been right, for once in his life.

Once he had killed the first fucker, he had slept like a baby afterwards.

Killing vampires had become his personal sleeping pill, better than Valium, better than drugs, better than Jack Daniel's.

He had soon been introduced to another world, a world he hadn't even imagined it existed, that of vampire killers. It was an underground world; filled with rules he didn't give a fuck about. It was a world filled with people who didn't get enough sleep, had too many nightmares, and killed bloodsuckers as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

He had kept a low profile in the criminal world. He had soon learnt to take whatever he needed from the vampires before he killed them.

He had traveled all around South America, getting rid of vampires with same coldness, the same efficiency he had used for humans…with a difference, of course: killing humans had been just a side effect of his job, there hadn't usually been nothing personal in those kills. Killing vampires was fucking personal, instead. Killing vampires had become his job. He had traveled all around South America, before heading to north.

He often thought about that night at the Titty Twister, about his brother's death…and the Fullers'.

They were all dead because of him. And of all the deaths he was responsible of, those were the only ones he really cared about.

He had wondered for a long time whether Kate had made it, if she had succeeded in going home, or if she had sucked on the barrel of the gun she had discarded before he went away on that fucking red-blood car.

He hadn't tried to know what had happened to her. It wouldn't have made sense.

He had left a girl, alone, in Mexico.

He had left a girl who had just lost her whole fucking family, pretending to be noble.

It wouldn't have made fucking sense.

And then, a couple of years before, he had started hearing rumors about a girl, who traveled on a old motor home, a girl who scared off even vampire killers, as for cruelty, coldness, ruthlessness

It hadn't taken long for him, to understand they were all talking about Kate. Even then, though, he hadn't wanted to know, he hadn't looked for her…he had tried to stay the hell away from her.

Until that night.

He had seen her, while they had both followed the fucker, he had seen her slender body moving as silently as those of vampires, he had seen her impossibly long hair picked up in a ponytail, he had seen her old jeans, and her too large black coat.

And then he had seen her fighting. The way she had moved, the way she had fought had been fucking brilliant!

The girl had had potential six years before: she had been quick, with good reflexes, but she had been too filled with fear.

The woman he had seen fighting had been cold, fearless.

She had reminded him, of himself.

And then, the son of a bitch of the cat-faced vampire had seemed to have the upper hand, it had been then he had stepped in.

He had recalled the promise he had made to Jacob Fuller six years before. He had promised the preacher his daughter would be safe.

Granted, the promise had been about Richie and his intentions toward Kate, but it was just a matter of semantics. Seth Gecko always kept his promises.

At least, that was what he had been telling to himself, as he had distracted the vampire long enough to allow Kate to kill him.

Kate's face when she had turned, after hearing his voice, as he had gotten close to her, had looked too pale, too old…and young, all at the same time. He had kept still, like a moron, as she did the same.

And then she had fainted.

He hated it when women fainted…. and hated it even more when it happened in the middle of a deserted road, after killing a vampire.

He tilted his head down, and although still angry he couldn't help smiling. He had always had a soft spot for Kate Fuller.

Not that he had spent the last six years of his life, sighing like fucking lovelorn teenager, or that he had been celibate …what he felt for that girl, was something…that belonged just to him, something he didn't like to dwell on, something that prompted him to get the hell away from a town when people started talking about the vampire killer who traveled on a Motor Home.

He walked to his car. He had taken it from a bloodsucker a few weeks before, in one of the countless towns he had been in. He swapped cars as often as possible. The last six years had really taught him about keeping a low profile.

Fuck, the last six years of his life had taught him about lots of things he'd rather know nothing about!

He could kill vampires in thousands of ways. He knew how long did it take for them to morph, he knew their strengths as much as their weaknesses. He knew vampire's blood smelled bad and that he had to take at least two showers before getting rid of that shit from his skin.

He knew that whatever town he was in, whatever hell hole in the middle of nowhere he decided to stop, he could always find vampires…and with them, the vampire killers.

He knew that vampire killers always looked the same: they were always dressed in black, they were always too pale, their faces were always frenzied, almost as if they had done drugs, and it had been a trip gone bad.

He wondered, for a second, whether his face too, held the same frantic expression, of people who had seen nightmarish stuff.

He decided to screw that train of thoughts, before it went too far, as he placed Kate on the passenger seat. He would drop the girl somewhere, maybe in one of the vampire killers' homes, and he would get the hell away from that town, as fast as humanly possible.

That was what he told himself, those were the plans formed by his mind, yet, he found himself parking his car in front of the building where he lived…without understanding why.

Just like, without having a clue about his actions, he took her in his arms, and took her home, laying her then on his bed.

Why did he always have to fuck up his life?

He tilted his head on a side, trying to ease the soreness in his muscles, before slipping off his coat. He kept casting glances to the woman on his bed, while he freed himself from the weapons he always had with him: two guns, his trusty 44 and the special one, the one with bullets on which he carved crosses, before he made them bless by one of the vampire killers priests, then it was the turn of the stakes, that he kept in a special belt, after that he got rid of the two vials of holy water and finally the cross…

If someone had ever told him that one day he would go around carrying a cross in the pocket of his coat, he'd have probably shot the fucker on sight.

Kate was sound asleep now, she had gone from unconsciousness to sleep and Seth shook his head, as he headed out of his bedroom and went to get a beer from a small portable fridge.

The apartment he was currently living in was, to put it mildly, a flophouse: a small bedroom, a kitchenette a windowless bathroom and the smallest living room, ever.

He had chosen it because the landlord hadn't asked any questions, the neighbors weren't a pain, and because it was the closest building to the local Church, it made it easier for him to get Holy water.

He stopped with the bottle in mid air, near his mouth. What the fuck had he turned into? When, exactly, his life had started revolving around vampires and the way to kill them?

He didn't know. What he knew, was that he had to keep doing it, he had to keep killing them…and not out of the kindness of his heart. He did it for selfish reasons: he killed vampires because it was the only way he had, to get some fucking sleep.

He killed vampires because if he didn't, he kept his eyes wide open in the dark…and shadows became monsters.

If he didn't kill vampires the shadows became Richie, and his twisted, swollen face. The shadows became Jacob Fuller, whose face, whose look in his eyes, once he had become a vampire, had been the most frightening thing he had ever seen. The shadows became Sex Machine, Santanico Pandemonium.

If he didn't kill those fucking bloodsuckers, the shadows became Scott, Kate's brother, as he was being eaten alive by vampires.

He had to kill them. He had to kill vampires, or else the shadows became Kate, and her slender body, pressed against his, begging him not to leave her, as vampires were all around them, ready to kill them.

He had to kill those fucking demons. He had no other choice. Not if he wanted to keep what it was left of his mind, sane.

Everything else, he realized, had stopped having any real meaning to him. When was the last time he had robbed a bank? When was the last time he had actually killed a human being?

He didn't remember.

He gritted his teeth, before drinking from his bottle.

He would wait for Kate to wake up. He would make sure she didn't want to faint again, he would point the door at her and tell her to piss off.

He sat on the old, battered brown couch with a sigh, keeping the bottle in his hands.

He just had to wait.

But why…why things were always so fucking complicated?


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks bunches to Buffybot76 for her review, you rock, dear! 

_S_unlight.

It was sunlight to wake Kate Fuller up. Not that it was exactly something new for her…what was new, was that it wasn't her bed she was waking into.

She opened her eyes, and tilted her head up from the pillow; she looked around, knitting her brow for a second.

Where the hell was she?

It took her a moment, before the previous night's events came to her, and when it happened, she couldn't help gasping.

Seth.

Seth Gecko had appeared out of nowhere the previous night and he had saved her life, distracting the vampire that was about to feed on her. Out of instinct her hand went up to her neck, and although she rationally knew she hadn't been bitten, she couldn't help sighing in relief.

She had fainted. She had dropped like a sack of potato.

Kate Fuller had never fainted. Ever.

She hadn't fainted when her mother had died; she hadn't fainted when Seth and Ritchie had aimed their guns at her, and although being scared out of her mind, she hadn't fainted when her life had been fucked up that night at the Titty Twister.

She had been alone for the last six years of her life, she had fought, and she had never fainted. Zoning out to go catching butterflies in her mind, yes. Fainting? Nope…no way. Not her. Never.

Until the previous night.

What the fuck had gotten into her, the previous night? She thought she had stopped being the damsel in distress six years before…instead she had fucking fainted!

She shook her head. It didn't matter, it had happened, and she had learnt long ago not to cry over spilled milk.

She tilted her head down, noticing she was still dressed, the only things missing were her weapons, her coat and boots, which she spotted right away on a chair next to the bed.

Not that she was surprised. Seth Gecko was a killer, a bastard, but in a way…he was a gentleman.

Even when things had gone to hell, that fateful night, she had felt safe with him.

The shadow of smile formed on her lips as she got up from her bed, and she couldn't help blinking in surprise when she realized two things: she had slept, all night long, without nightmares. And she was hungry!

Kate was really hungry…for the first time in a very long time. For the past six years, part of the discipline she had imposed on herself, had been about food. She had to be strong; she couldn't afford the luxury to skip meals, not if she wanted to be efficient. The fact that food turned her stomach, that she didn't even feel its taste, was just a minor detail for her.

She put on her shoes, while she still smiled. It was strange to smile, after all that time. It was strange to feel her lips stretching…in a smile and not, as she had gotten used to, in grimaces of pain after her training or patrols.

She stood still for a few seconds, while she tried to decide whether to take her gun or not. Eventually she decided to take it. That gun had been her best friend for the past six years; the only object that had real value to her, more than once it had saved her life.

And besides, it had been Seth's.

She got out from the little bedroom, only to stop in her tracks, when she saw Seth: he was sleeping on a couch, his feet on a chair, his head tilted down.

Now that she could see him more clearly, she noticed how pale he looked. It was almost as if he hadn't been spending a lot of time under the sun. Kate had noticed the two guns, the special belt with a few stakes in it; she had seen a cross, as well. It was half hidden under his black coat. Was it possible…. that he too hunted vampires?

She took another step into the room, and started when Seth leapt on his feet, producing from seemingly nowhere a small gun and aiming it at her.

"Fuck, Kate, I was about to shoot you!" He said.

Kate arched an eyebrow. "And good morning to you too, Seth" She said.

Seth blinked once twice, before he put the gun away.

Kate took another step, getting close to him. She had dreamed that moment for six years, despite herself. She had hoped for six years to see him again…and now that she was in the same room with him, she couldn't say a word.

She wanted to hit him, for leaving her alone, after fucking up her life.

She wanted to throw herself into his arms and kiss him, until she was breathless. Until they both were.

She wanted to thank him for saving her life, the night before.

But her voice refused to cooperate. She couldn't say a word.

Her body refused to move. She stood still, looking at him.

She cleared her throat, and still couldn't talk, the words just wouldn't come out.

It was Seth who talked, he did it, as he went to the kitchenette and asked, "Slept well?"

Kate lightly nodded, shaking herself out of her momentary numbness. "I did…." She said. She stifled her hands in her jeans' pockets while she added, "Thank you…for yesterday…you know, for…"

Seth arched his brows, saying, "I was in the neighborhood…"

"Isn't Canada a bit far from El Rey?" She asked.

Seth shrugged his shoulders, as he took a pack of chocolate covered snacks from a cupboard and opened it and threw a couple of them at her. She smiled when she noticed the light smile on Seth's lips when he saw how effortlessly she had grabbed the snacks.

"El Rey wasn't that great…" He said after a second, and there wasn't trace of smile on his face or in his eyes while he said those words. He took a couple of snacks as well and came back to the small living room.

Kate slowly chewed on the first of her snacks, savoring its sweet taste, after a second she murmured: "It looked like it was the most important thing in the world for you"

Seth's eyes became darker for a second, he discarded his snack, throwing it on a table and said, "Life is fucking strange, you know?"

Kate toyed with the snack's wrapper while she said, "Tell me about it…"

Silence. Again. Kate didn't know whether to shoot the man between his eyes or close the distance between them and kiss him senseless.

There had been men for the past six years. There had been men she had fucked on the backseats of cars, pickups or in motel rooms' beds. There had been quick fucks, with faceless men. She had just known their bodies, for a few hours, without strings, without being attached to anyone.

There had been quick fucks that in her mind hadn't been very different from her sessions of training. She had needed them to keep dreams and nightmares away, to spend the hours that separated her from the night and the hunt. Had she wanted those men? She wasn't sure about that.

Did she want Seth?

Yes. She did…she wanted him…but she couldn't afford that luxury, so she put those thoughts aside, especially when Seth casually said, "So…you're a vampire killer?"

Kate shrugged her shoulders. "Yep…" she just said.

She sat on the couch and was surprised when Seth took some steps and sat next to her while he asked, "Why?"

"Why not?" She asked in return.

Seth looked at her as if she had grown a second head…or a third eye right in the middle of her brow.

"Because…" He started, but didn't continue, he tilted his hands up and shook his head.

"It wasn't what I wanted…" She started, but stopped in mid sentence. How could she explain that to him? Maybe he had thought that she had gone home, that she had come back to the States, finished school…and she had thought about it as well, for a few hours, until dusk came. Things changed, though, when she found herself fighting against other vampires, royally pissed off at her for what had happened the night before.

Somehow they had known she had been involved in what had happened…and had wanted to make her pay.

She didn't remember what had exactly happened that night. It was still a blur to her. She just knew that after that night, fighting vampires had been the only thing that made sense to her, the only thing she was really good at. The only thing she wanted to do.

"What about you?" She asked, instead.

Seth blinked and asked, "What about me?"

"Do you always go around carrying stakes and a cross, or you just happen to have them handy?"

Seth tilted his head on a side, she saw him tightening his jaw before saying in a low voice, "I hate those mother fuckers…"

Seth had uttered those words matter-of-factly, as if they explained everything.

And incredibly enough they did. It took her just a look, to grasp details that she had missed, details of Seth's face, on which there were lines damn similar to hers. They were lines caused by too many patrols, too many nightmares, and too much fear.

"I've been in El Rey for a few months…once the local vampires were toast, I managed to leave town…and started looking for them elsewhere…"

Kate nodded at the man's words. She recalled the way Seth had fought that night, how he had refused to give up, until the very end. She recalled the way she had hung onto him for dear life, while they were surrounded by vampires.

He had left her, driving away on a red car, only to keep doing what he had started that night…just like she had done.

_Yep _she thought _life is fucking strange_

"That's why you're here in Canada?" She asked.

"I heard about a very big colony," He explained.

Kate smiled, for a second, before saying, "Me too…I've come here a few days ago…so far, no traces of it, though…"

Seth curtly nodded at her words. "Getting there has been a bitch, and to make it worse, so far?" He shrugged his shoulders adding, "_nada de nada._"

When later on, Kate thought about that morning, she mostly recalled how Seth and she had talked, for hours, about their experiences for the past six years, about the vampires they had killed, the places they had gone to…about their favorite weapons.

She recalled, later on, that they had both smiled. A lot.

She recalled that she had thought that they had been two lonely people, for damn too long…and that they had both felt, for the first time in a very long time, home.


	4. Chapter 4

_H_e should have sent her away.

He should have been a fucking bastard and tell her to get the hell away from him.

He hadn't. He was looking at Kate as she examined his weapons acting like the pro she was with them, while he fastened his special belt.

He should have sent her on her way; instead, he had spent all day long with her. He had sat on a couch, whose springs had tattooed his ass, after he had been sitting for hours on it, and he had talked…just talked to Kate, only to realize he hadn't talked a lot for the past six years.

Not that he had been a blabbermouth before, but there had always been someone…Richie, or an inmate, or even Jacob Fuller to talk to.

After the Titty Twister he had been alone…or with women he hadn't chosen to chatter with.

No one knew about what he did at nights, except for the vampire killers and they were people he didn't like to talk to. They all had some morbid, tearjerker back-story they all liked to share, they all felt like crusaders on a mission, and they were generally too nuts to have a decent conversation.

He had talked to Kate because there hadn't been the need to waste words with her, because she had been there, with him when it had all started.

She understood why he fought vampires. She understood, because she felt the same things.

Kate had changed: six years spent fighting vampires had hardened her, the steel in her, which had already been there, although not so pronounced, was now clear in everything she did.

Kate Fuller's gaze was cold, it was almost as if ice sparkled in her hazel eyes, yet Seth had glimpsed the fire within her. There had been fire, dancing in the way her lips had curled up in shadows of smiles, which never really reached her eyes. He had glimpsed the fire, trapped behind the thick ice's walls she used to protect herself.

Kate had talked like a man, she had drunk like a man, she had inspected his weapons like a man…and yet at the same time, her full lips had curled up in mischievous smiles or pouts.

Six years before he had tried to be noble. El Rey was hell on Earth…he wouldn't have condemned Kate to that. He had known she would have fallen into his arms…and it would have been fucking wrong. He had seen the movie, read the book…it would have been a disaster.

And besides, when he had left her, he had really thought he would be able to put that nightmare behind him.

He was Seth Gecko, for fuck's sake!

He wouldn't let bloodsuckers fuck up his life more than they had already done!

Seth Gecko wouldn't have allowed a kid who had lost her family to hang around with him, as a memento that he was supposed to go to El Rey with his brother…and his brother was dead. He had been the one to stake him…he had seen him liquefy, and the only things left of the son of a bitch had been his arms and his skull.

Seth Gecko hadn't needed anyone; he had always been good at managing things on his own.

Bullshit.

It had all been a bunch of bullshit!

At least, that was what he was thinking in that moment, while he still wondered, though, why he hadn't told Kate to go away…and why they were about to patrol together.

And what was going to happen afterwards? Kate Fuller wasn't a kid any more…and he was still a man. Not to mention the fact that he had a soft spot for her…he always had…probably ever since she had saved his ass in the motor home's bathroom, six years before.

He snorted, ignoring Kate's glance, and decided to take things as they came. First they were going to stake some vampires all the way to hell, and then he would think about the rest. That was…if one of the vampires didn't kill them first.

Seth didn't delude himself into thinking that kind of life could last forever. He didn't particularly care about living forever. The only thing he cared about, was going down fighting. He wondered whether Kate thought the same.

"Do you already know where to go?" He asked a few minutes later, as they headed outside the apartment.

Kate shrugged. "There is this bar in the outskirts of town. I wanted to go there, before leaving town…"

"How many?" He asked.

"Twenty…give or take" She answered.

Seth blinked. Twenty vampires…plus casualties as patrons killed when the real party began.

He smiled: "Looks like fun. You sure it's vampires?"

"No, Seth…they're psychos. Psychos that morph into ugly fucks when they get hungry" She replied with a half smile

_They were vampires! Psychos do not explode when sunlight hits them. I don't give a fuck how crazy they are! _

He smiled, again, at the girl's words and said, "Let's take a look around, I don't want to bullshit around…"

Kate curtly nodded at his words. Seth saw that she was refraining from talking, probably to object at something he had said. She had worked on her own for years, and if the reputation she had made, for herself was true – and he had no reasons to believe otherwise – that wasn't going to be the first time for her, yet, she let him take the lead.

Just like that night.

"After we take a look around," He said, surprised by the gentle tone of his voice, "We're gonna have a hell of a party with those fucks…"

Kate looked at him, surprised, but didn't comment on his words.

They were outside his building now, Seth showed her his car, it was an old Ford, which looked like it had seen much better days, and she shook her head as she got in.

"What?" He asked getting in the car as well.

"You told me about keeping a low profile, I didn't think you would push it that far…"

There had been a time, where he would have reacted with anger at those words, instead he found himself smiling.

Great! When exactly had he become Mr. Nice guy? What was he slowly turning into?

Rather…what had he become, without even paying attention?

That wasn't the moment to think about that kind of personal stuff. He had to clear his mind and do it quickly. He couldn't allow himself to lose his cool, not when he was about to kill vampires. A whole bar filled with vampires.

He cast a glance at Kate: her face was somber, the ice in her eyes thick and impenetrable, the girl turned and looked at him for a second and Seth was surprised when he realized that she had probably reached the same conclusions he had.

First there were vampires to kill.

Then they would think about the two of them.

AN: Thanks to the reviewers...you guys are really great!!!:)


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N: Thanks to Buffybot76, for the beta reading! You rock, girl!!!:)**_

****

_A_s much as it sounded crazy even to herself, Kate loved feeling her body aching after her patrols. Not that she was one of those people who were into pain as a form of pleasure…but there was something inherently satisfying in the bruises, in the aching muscles…it all meant she had done a good job.

And that night she had done a marvelous fucking good job, at least judging by how much her shoulders and legs hurt.

Seth looked at her and said, "You should go to the hospital…"

They were in his car, Seth was driving, and dawn was drawing near. They had killed all the vampires, each and every one of them: twenty-five vampires were now toast, courtesy of she and Seth; the bar was now a flaming pile of rubble.

Kate knew that she had to get the hell away from that town. She always left town after nights like that. It was too dangerous to stay…and besides, once the job was over, what was the point in staying?

"Right…" She murmured, "I can really see myself explaining how I hurt myself to a doc…no way, Seth…"

Seth looked tired and injured as well: a big, ugly looking bruise was forming on his chin, and there was one smaller on the jaw, blood was making his hair darker and was crusting on his hands and neck. Kate tilted her head on a side and said, "I'm fine…I just need a hot shower…"

"Make it two showers," He said in a low voice.

Kate knitted her brows, without talking, Seth looked at her and added, "I always take two showers…vampires' blood is…"

"Shitty as hell?" She finished for him.

Seth nodded and Kate took a look around, noticing they were now outside Seth's building.

_Now what?_ She thought.

She had spent twenty-four hours with Seth…. she had fainted and he had caught her fall, she had slept in his bed, she had talked to him, fought alongside him…what was going to happen now?

Was he going to ask her to go upstairs with him? Were they going to take a shower together? Was he going to tell her to get the hell away from him, already?

She side glanced at him, noticing that he looked like he was lost in thought.

Was it possible that he was having doubts as well? Was it possible that he too, was wondering about what they were going to do?

_O_ne of the things that had allowed Seth Gecko to survive had been his cold blood, his ability to make decisions in matter of seconds. His being a son of a bitch had allowed him to go vampire hunting without losing his cool, to ram a stake into his brother's chest without missing a beat, without shedding a tear.

He had always been proud of that part of his nature…too bad it looked like it had disappeared for the past minutes.

Seth Gecko didn't have a clue about what to do!

He had fought alongside Kate all night long…and he had found out that he had missed having someone who covered his back…and someone to watch over.

Kate was a fucking awesome fighter and as he had discovered that night, she was damn sexy too while she fought.

Under any other circumstances he would have already taken Kate home or, maybe, they wouldn't have left his apartment at all that night. Under any other circumstance he wouldn't have spent a whole day talking to a woman… and sure as hell he wouldn't be sitting in his car, trying to decide what to do.

Problem was that it wasn't a normal circumstance…not only because he had spent the night fighting vampires, but also because he had done that with the only living human being he gave a shit about.

He had spent years getting away from her. He wasn't a coward…or, at least, he had never thought of himself as one. He looked death right in the eyes, he always had. He had never turned his back to a challenge, yet, in that moment, he felt like the biggest wimp on Earth.

Sure, he could ask Kate if she wanted to go upstairs with him, in the rat hole he called his home. They might even have sex – because he had no doubts about her wanting him as well…he might be a wimp…but he wasn't blind – and probably it would be the best fuck of his life…and then what? What was going to happen afterwards?

What was really throwing him for a loop was the fact that he was considering an "afterwards" for the two of them. Since when had he had so many doubts before having sex?

"Seth?" Kate said. Although she had spoke in a low voice it had been enough to break his train of thoughts, for which he was grateful.

He turned toward her, noticing the lines around her eyes. She did look dead on her feet.

He arched his eyebrows, without talking, Kate sighed before saying, "Look. I need that shower…and a couple of Tylenol…can I crash at your place?"

If Kate had something else in mind as she talked, she was good…_really _good at hiding it.

Later on, when Seth thought back about that moment, about that morning, he recalled how he had thought for a nanosecond to send her away, to tell her to piss off, and how he had ignored those thoughts.

He recalled how he had just shrugged his shoulders and had smiled, before getting out of his car, only to be immediately followed by Kate.

He recalled how he had suddenly felt inexplicably happy.

_D_espite what she had told Seth, once they had entered his house, Kate had let Seth use the shower first. The man had looked at her and had shaken his head, before leaving the room.

Kate needed time to think… she needed time to calm down the frantic beating of her heart. It was strange, she could kill vampires without breaking a sweat, without batting an eyelash, and yet in that very moment she could feel her heart in her throat…and she was scared.

In the end, in the car, she had found the guts to talk. She had watched Seth for a few seconds, instinctively sensing his doubts, and she had done the only thing she could think about: she had decided for the both of them.

She snorted while she looked around and started to take off her coat, clenching her jaw in pain. Her shoulders and back hurt. A lot.

The mother fuckers they had killed that night had been strong, she was sure she had huge bruises all over her, and a couple of gashes on her back. She even knew how and when it had happened…it had been when one of those bloodsuckers had thrown her on a pin ball machine, with such strength that the glass had broken, cutting her.

She hated it when she had to literally bend backwards to mend her wounds, but she rarely, if ever, went asking for help. She only did that when her wounds were more serious, when it happened, she usually went to one of the vampire killers' doctors – because there was always one among them – and she let them stitch her up.

She sighed as she sat on the couch and took off her boots. She was tired. Usually after a night like that, she would start the Motor Home, drive to the nearest town and crash in a motel room, where she would sleep for a couple of days…she didn't know what would happen that time.

She closed her eyes, resting her head against the couch's headrest. What the hell was going to happen?

"Oh, fuck it!" She said between gritted teeth, and was surprised when she heard Seth's laughter. She slowly opened her eyes, while without even realizing that, her lips stretched in a smile.

Seth was in front of her, wearing just black jeans, his hair was wet with the shower he had just taken and Kate noticed the constellation of bruises on his shoulders, arms and torso, and his impressive collection of scars: some of them looked old, other more recent were on his shoulders and chest and she noticed how one of them, quite long, was half hidden between the flames of the huge tribal tattoo that covered his left shoulder and arm.

Seth was still smiling when Kate slowly got on her feet, clamping her jaw shut not to let out the moan of pain that was about to slip out from her mouth.

"Is there any hot water left?" She asked, as she passed next to him.

"Knock yourself out, sugar…" He said.

Kate stopped, arching an eyebrow at him. "Thank you," She said her voice barely more than a whisper.

They were so close now; there were just a few inches between them. It took her just a step, to close the distance between them and shyly touch Seth's lips with hers.

It all happened so quickly that he didn't have time to say a word or move; she covered the few meters that separated her from the bathroom in record time, and then closed the door behind her shoulders. Only then did she let out a breath she didn't even realize she had held.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: thanks to the reviewers …and to Buffybot76: you rock, girl! Thanks for the wonderful beta reading! **

_W_hat the fuck was he doing, standing still in front of the bathroom's door, while Kate was on the other side?

Why the hell had he been looking at that fucking door like a moron for the past five minutes?

He had been a bastard once, a motherfucker, a thief, a killer. He had spent years in prison, gaining the respect and the fear of other inmates. He had been the real deal.

What the hell was he doing now, a forty something ex con, looking at a bathroom door, while on the other side there was a twenty-two year old woman taking a shower?

Why wasn't he kicking that door open and reaching Kate under the shower?

Why was he ready to get out of his own skin for the excitement?

It had been just a kiss…there hadn't even been tongue!

It had been a fucking peck on the lips!

He had to think…he had to stop the blood from heading south, give himself an energetic shake of the shoulders, get into that fucking bathroom and end that madness! And he didn't care whether that madness ended in a blood bath or in a fuck!

That, at least, was what he had kept saying to himself for the past five minutes…. then why wasn't he kicking that door open?

He was a killer, a thief, a bastard…not a fucking boy scout!

Keeping that in mind, he took a step back, ready to kick the door open, when his senses, completely alerted, caught a moan coming from the other room. It was Kate! Kate was swearing under her breath when she wasn't moaning in pain.

He didn't hesitate that time when with a swift kick, he opened the bathroom's door. It would have been, oh so fucking great, if the girl had slipped in the shower stall while he, in the other room was too busy brooding over a peck on the lips, like a fucking school boy, to notice!

He couldn't help crossing his brow, when, once he got into the bathroom he saw Kate: she was fresh from her shower, naked except for her panties, her body was covered with bruises, she was looking in the mirror above the sink and was unsuccessfully trying to clean two ugly looking gashes on her back.

Although surprise was clear on her face, Kate didn't talk; she just looked at him, knitting her eyebrows.

"What the hell are you doing?" Seth asked, his hands on his hips.

He felt like an idiot.

A worried idiot.

An excited idiot.

Kate's shoulders slumped and, for just one second, she reminded him of the teenager she had once been, before he fucked her life up.

Kate, whose long hair, still wet, was covering her shoulders and breasts, wasn't even trying to cover herself. Seth could see the bruises and marks on her slender body. They didn't particularly impress him. He had his own share of scars collected through the years, and there were new bruises covering his body that morning. He wasn't impressed. He wasn't disgusted. He was…furious!

Why the fuck didn't she tell him about the cuts on her back?

How the hell did she plan on cleaning them?

He took a step forward and wordlessly knelt behind her, but first he took the wet washcloth from her hands, it was dirty with blood, she had already used it to try and clean her wounds.

Kate started when Seth placed the wet cloth on her back: the gashes weren't that deep, she wasn't going to need stitches, but they had probably bled a lot.

There were other scars on her back and her shoulders, some were new, others, which looked older, were definitely lashing marks.

He gritted his teeth. He didn't want to know who…or what had done that to her, because he knew, with absolute certainty, that if the fucker was still alive, he would hunt him down and emasculate him… and he didn't want to think about how primal his instinct to protect Kate was.

He couldn't.

He got on his feet and wordlessly left the bathroom, heading to his bedroom where he took an old, black, backpack. Inside the backpack there was quite a vast assortment of medicines and disinfectants; the stuff he kept in his bathroom wasn't but a small part of all the ER shit he had collected over the years.

When he went back to the bathroom, Kate was still standing, she had just rested her hips against the sink, the only difference was that she had swept her hair back and was crossing her arms over her chest…her still naked chest.

He stopped just inside the doorway, arching his brows, while Kate kept her head down, only when he got close to her did she tilt her head up saying, "Clothes are gone…"

"I kinda noticed that" He said.

He was in front of her, and for the life of him, he couldn't understand why he was trying his best not to look at her from the neck down. What the fuck was his problem, again?

He refrained from gritting his teeth out of frustration, instead he settled for gesturing her to turn around. And why did he care so much about two fucking cuts on her back? They weren't the first she got, and wouldn't be the last, at least not as long as she kept killing vampires.

_I wasn't there when she got the others…_ He thought.

He blinked his eyes while, just like it had happened a few minutes before, he got on his knees behind the girl.

_I left her alone…and some asshole, fucking whipped her!_

He rummaged into his backpack, while he tried to ignore his train of thoughts.

_The only person you give a shit about on this Earth …and you found her more fucked up in her head than you are, which is saying something, and with fucking whip marks on her back!_

He started to disinfect the gashes on her back with some betadine, stopping only when Kate started, more out of surprise than pain.

He had seen her that night. Kate was a fighter, and a good one at that, she didn't seem to mind pain, just gritted her teeth and kept going…in that way they were similar.

Seth Gecko didn't believe in guilt, he didn't believe in brooding over things past…he'd have lost his mind a long time ago if he had…long before the events at the Titty Twister.

Yet, that morning, in that bathroom, after a night spent fighting vampires alongside a young woman who had once had a family…and a scarless body and soul, for the first time in his life, he felt guilty.

That enlightenment didn't shatter him; it didn't make him cry…or scream. He was a mother-fucking bastard, he always would be. His hands trembled, though, for a second or two, and his Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed past the sudden lump in his throat.

He tended Kate's wounds the best he could, without even realizing how gentle his gestures had become, at first. When he did, there was another enlightenment in his life, a moment of absolute clarity, like nothing he had experienced before.

His heart didn't speed up its beating, the world around him kept going, as if nothing had happened…but while he got on his feet and handed a bottle of painkillers to Kate, he knew without a doubt that something had changed. He knew that the only thing that really mattered to him was to protect Kate.

The only thing he was sure of was that Kate had sneaked inside of him, for the duration.

He wouldn't run away this time. Not from her. Not from himself.

Seth Gecko loved Kate Fuller

Seth was too quiet. He hadn't said a word ever since he had knelt behind her to tend her wounds. Kate didn't know what to think.

At first she had been relieved when Seth hadn't looked disgusted by the scars on her body. She didn't usually care one way or another…the scars were there, they weren't going to vanish anytime soon, she had gotten used to them, yet, when the man had entered the bathroom kicking the door open, Kate had feared he would judge her…or even worse, he'd be disgusted.

It didn't happen. Seth had just taken the cloth from her hands; he had knelt behind her and had started cleaning her wounds. Without uttering a sound.

That was when Kate had stopped understanding what the hell was going on!

Seth had gotten on his feet, had left the bathroom only to come back bringing with him an old backpack filled with medicines; he hadn't even looked at her, he hadn't said a word about her being nude, he hadn't even really looked, he had made a point not to look at her from the neck down. He had knelt again and had started to disinfect her wounds…and even then, he hadn't talked, he hadn't said a fucking word, as she held her breath.

Then for a few seconds, or maybe she had just imagined it, Seth's hands had lightly shaken, and when he had later bandaged her wounds his touch had been soft, gentle…caring, almost.

She knew Seth's touch, she recalled the way he used his hands, she had seen the previous night Seth ripping the rotten hearts of vampires out bare handed.

She had seen how his hands had become as lethal as the other weapons he used to kill vampires.

Yet…those same hands had softly grazed her skin a few minutes before.

Seth hadn't said a word, not a single word. It had been a few minutes since he had left the bathroom and Kate was confused…and was getting cold.

She turned, taking a look at her reflected image in the mirror, lightly blinking. Was it really her? She didn't like mirrors; she didn't like wasting her time in front of them…she didn't want to.

Yet she couldn't help it now. Who was that woman with a tired face with a bruise on one cheek and lines around her eyes and mouth?

Who was that girl, that despite being tired, despite being in pain and confused, had eyes sparkling with excitement?

She was still looking in the mirror when she saw Seth entering the bathroom and she couldn't help noticing he had put on a black sweater over his jeans; he was holding something in his hands, and she couldn't help blinking in surprise when she realized what it was: clothes. Seth shrugged his shoulders and said, "I found these…they should fit."

Kate turned to face him and despite being still confused she couldn't help smiling when she saw the black tee shirt and shorts Seth handed her.

"Thank you" She said. They wouldn't fit, she was sure of that, but somehow that gesture had moved her. Trust Seth Gecko to confuse her even more by doing something nice for her.

Seth tilted his head on a side, narrowing his eyes for a second, and still he didn't speak. Neither of them talked for a few seconds, while she hugged the clothes he had given her against her chest, and Seth had his hands on his hips. She managed a little smile and said, "I'd better get dressed…"

Seth nodded and Kate thought he looked unsure whether to stay in the bathroom with her or not.

What the hell was going on in his mind?

Seth anyway, looked like he had made his decision: he left the bathroom and Kate scratched her head, even more confused, before putting on the tee shirt and shorts. She hadn't been wrong, the clothes didn't fit, they were too large for her, at least the tee shirt was, but they were clean…and they were dry.

She hadn't really had a master plan when she had asked Seth if she could crash at his house. She had known he had doubts, but if she had to be honest, the only thing that had really mattered to her, was not to be alone.

She had been alone for six, long, years. She had accepted that loneliness, she had used it as her shield, her weapon, and it had been a security net for her. She had gotten used it, so much that she had wanted to forget what it was like not to be so fucking lonely.

Seth was the only person in the world she gave a damn about…and she just hadn't been ready to give up on him. Not yet.

Yet, of all the scenarios she had made up in her mind, despite not wanting to, over the years, of all the dreams she had had for the past six years, of all the things that could have happened once they had gotten inside his house…the last thing she could have ever imagined was Seth's silence, that blank, unreadable stare. Not to mention his gentle touch while he tended her wounds…or the fact that he had **cared** enough to tend her wounds.

That had been unexpected, to say the least.

She snorted while she left the bathroom and stopped just outside of it, when she saw Seth lying on the couch, his arms folded behind his head, as he was staring wide eyed at the ceiling

"Seth?" She asked, taking a step forward toward him.

Seth didn't look at her but he said in a low voice, "I couldn't sleep any more."

Kate knitted her brows, she had no troubles imagining what he was talking about…what she didn't understand was why he was talking about that. To her.

They had talked a lot the previous day, about all kind of stuff, except for the night at the Titty Twister. They had danced around the subject, there had been lots of "you knows" …but none of them had really talked about it.

What was the point in talking about that night? She had though the previous day; they both knew what had happened, they had both been there. Why wasting their breath over that?

Instead Seth was talking, and she was the one who couldn't say a word, now.

"I spent two months getting shit faced, to get some fucking sleep…it didn't work. Not at nights…and just for a few minutes."

Kate took another step toward him and Seth still not looking at her, moved his legs aside silently inviting her to sit next to him. Kate sat on the couch, and still didn't talk.

Truth was she was almost afraid to speak. And Kate hated it when she was afraid.

"I've killed a fucking lot of people, Kate…. I tried not to when I could, but fact is I've had my fair share of blood and guts on my hands…" Seth kept quiet for a second, his head tilted up, his legs on the back of the couch. He still wasn't looking at her. He was still staring up at the ceiling.

Kate wondered whether he was going to look at her, or if he was going to keep looking up, to keep staring at that fucking ceiling with those hideous stains of humidity as if it contained all the answers of the universe.

"And I've never had any problems sleeping." Seth said, "and then the night after…when I already was in El Rey, I couldn't sleep. I was past the point of being tired…and I couldn't sleep. I first thought it was just adrenaline, I thought it was because of…Richie" Seth blinked his eyes when he said his brother's name. That was the first time he had mentioned his name, Kate noticed.

Seth shook his head and continued, "For two fucking months, after that night, I couldn't sleep to save my life. For two fucking months I've drowned all kind of shit, chewed on Valium as if it was candy…and my eyes were always wide open… "

Kate rested her shoulders against the couch's back, next to Seth's legs when he stopped talking; she realized her hands were shaking and started playing with the hem of the shirt to cover it, Seth though still wasn't looking at her.

Seth was still looking at the ceiling, without talking, he looked very tired, and the look in his eyes was still blank, his eyes were dark pools that were scaring her. For the first time in a very long time she was scared.

She wasn't scared of Seth, though. She was scared for him, for the abyss he kept locked inside. She wondered whether he had ever shed a tear for his brother's death or whether, just like her, she had pushed back all the pain and had pretended it had burned together with the Titty Twister.

"I thought I had finally lost it," Seth said in a low voice, "so one night I went out…and looked for them. I remember thinking that if there had been those vampires someone had made them…and if there were others I would find them…and kill them…so maybe I'd get some sleep…or die trying. I didn't care one way or another at that point…"

Kate blinked at Seth's words, she reached out her hand to touch him, but she let it immediately fall, fearing it might upset Seth, fearing he would stop talking if she touched him.

Seth was bitterly smiling when he continued, "I found them alright! They were in a hell hole like the Titty Twister, they only wanted fags there…"

Kate smiled as well, but her smile faded when Seth said: "There were lots of them…not as many as that night, but there were enough. It was what I needed.

I killed them all…and you know what? When I got home I fucking slept all day. When I woke up the next day I could barely move, but I had rested.

Seth Gecko was back, ready to fucking kick back in El Rey…"

Seth ran a hand through his hair and said, "Guess what, Kate? It lasted two days…and then I was back to square one…staring up at the ceiling of my bedroom, with a bottle of Jack's in one hand and the fucking TV. remote in the other…"

Seth tilted his head down, looking at her for the first time since she had entered the room. "That's why I fight them. I kill vampires to get some sleep…or else my mind starts playing tricks on me. My mind tries to fuck me…and no one can fuck Seth Gecko, Kate" His lips curled up in a sly smile while he added, "Unless, of course, I want them to…"

Seth slowly got in a sitting position and Kate had to refrain herself from startling when their shoulders touched.

"Why…" She started. She stopped and swallowed before asking, "Why are you telling me?"

Seth laughed, and it was a real laugh, not a desperate one, as one would expect. And Kate realized that when he laughed he almost looked like the man she had known six years before, the man she had drunk whiskey with, the man she had fought alongside with while her world crumbled down all around her.

"I'll be damned if I know why!" He said. "I'll be damned if I fucking understand why…" He added in a low voice.

"I wanted to go home," Kate said. It was funny how easily the words were coming out of her mouth, now. "I really wanted to. I wanted to get to the border, I wanted to ask where the nearest airport was and use the money you had given me to go home"

"What happened?" He asked. "Why didn't you?"

Kate shrugged her shoulders: "Unlike you, I couldn't keep my eyes open, I started the Motor Home, drove for a couple of miles and had to stop…" She tilted her head down and added, "I fell asleep…like an idiot!"

She shook her head, pushing away the memories even before they came and turned her head to look at Seth while she said, "I woke up at dusk…"

"Shit…" Was Seth's only comment.

Kate nodded at Seth's words and said, "I started the camper, but didn't get very far…"

"Vampires?" He asked.

"Yes. Lots and lots of them. They were pissed off…and I only had a cross and two guns with me. I think one of them was Richie's. I found it in the bathroom.

Anyway, I drove over some of them; I shot at two of them, and fought the others. One of them eventually got inside…and there was another…" she let out a soft sigh and added, "the son of a bitch had a whip…" She stopped talking, when she saw Seth almost imperceptibly flinching at her words.

She had stopped talking, now, not because she didn't want to tell the rest of the story, but because her recollections basically stopped there. Every thing that had happened afterwards was a blur to her and she didn't know whether she wanted to recall.

"How did you…?" Seth started and Kate quickly interrupted him saying, "I don't really remember, Seth. I remember being afraid…I remember being angry. I remember thinking I didn't want to die like that…in that Motor Home. I remember thinking that I didn't want to become a vampire. All I have are flashes of me kicking and screaming and punching, and smashing furniture…but aside from that…" She shrugged her shoulders and repeated, "Aside from that I don't remember anything. All I know is that sometime later…I was alone, holding the whip in my hands."

She didn't add that the whip had made her stomach turn, because it was dirty with her blood and flesh, that she had thrown up bile, for what it had seemed like hours, or that she had spent hours under the shower trying to get rid of all the blood.

"I'm sorry," Seth said in a low voice and once again he wasn't looking at her.

He wasn't looking at her…just like that morning, before leaving her on her own. Unlike that fateful morning, though, Kate wasn't angry or disappointed. Unlike that morning, Kate believed in Seth's words. It was clear in the tone of his voice that he really meant it.

"Why didn't you go to the airport?" He asked. "You should have gone home…"

"To do what, Seth? They would've locked me up in a padded cell. No one would ever believe me…"

Seth arched an eyebrow, "You could have lied…"

Kate shook her head, "The point is I didn't want to go home. There was nothing there for me, any more…I got to the border…and went back…" She weakly smiled before adding, "I guess we thought the same thing: someone had to have made those bastards…if I had met those, I would meet other of them…and I'd kill them."

"Truth is those mother fuckers bit us too that night." He commented.

Kate lightly blinked at those words, she realized that while she was talking, Seth had drooped an arm around her shoulders and she hadn't even noticed. She shook her head and asked, "What do you mean?"

"They bit us inside…in our souls" Seth shook his head, smiling: "I didn't even believe in all this crap!" his smile faded when he added, "they changed us, Kate. Don't get me wrong: I'm still a thief, I'm still a killer…it's just I've changed customers…I steal from the vampires I kill…"

"I do that too…" She admitted.

Seth smiled and deadpanned, "I kinda got it when I saw you smashing the cash register before we left the bar …"

Kate shrugged her shoulders; she was about to add something, when Seth's lips suddenly covered hers.

They stood still for a second; they were close to each other, so much that Kate could feel the warmth of Seth's body through the fabric of his clothes, so much that the man's scent was invading her nostrils and her heart was hammering in her chest, stronger than it had ever done.

She had always thought in the fantasies that, despite everything, she had had over the years that being kissed by Seth would have been like being drained, that it could have never been gentle.

She had got it all wrong.

Seth's lips were warm, as he scattered gentle, feather like kisses on her lips, gently inviting her to open them up and she couldn't help but to happily oblige.

He was taking her breath away, as their tongues sought each other and languidly started dancing together, and at the same time she could feel Seth's right hand, grazing her face and his thumbs tracing circles on her cheek.

She felt Seth's arm tightening around her, drawing her to him. They were closer and closer, while the kiss deepened and she could feel fire flowing into her veins, her belly, and she couldn't help circling his neck with an arm, seeking a deeper contact between them, craving for more.

She needed to breath, but she didn't want to break their kiss, she didn't want to stop what was happening between them.

It was different, she thought, different than anything she had ever felt with other men, different from the kisses she had given and received, more out of habit than for pleasure. The way her body was responding to Seth's touch was different…it was more real, more exciting, more breath taking.

Seth was still holding her at him, and she could feel his excitement through the fabric of his jeans, yet he wasn't really touching her body, his right hand was still on her face, while his left one, was on her waist.

She, on the other hand, couldn't stop touching him: neck, shoulders, arms, back…her hands went everywhere, touching, seeking his skin, moaning with frustration and pleasure, and she found it extremely exciting that she was the one making those sounds, and that they were being absorbed by Seth's lips.

She gasped, when she felt Seth's hand, his left one, leaving her waist and slowly, oh, so slowly going up, tracing with his fingers her hips, her stomach only to end up covering her breast.

She had to break the kiss, then. She had to take a deep breath. She was panting; her heart was furiously thumping in her chest. She didn't remember ever feeling her face, her body burning with desire.

She didn't remember ever loving someone as much as she loved Seth Gecko, in that very moment.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: As always, thanks to Buffybot76 for the betaing...you're the greatest!:)**

He was wrong

He was a boy scout. A fucking boy scout!

Long before his life took a turn for the worse, Seth Gecko had learnt to respect women. It had been partially due to his fear, one he'd never admit…not even to himself, that he might become like Richie or like his father…and partially it had been something he had liked to do.

He had killed women, of course, but that had been just part of his job. With the women he had been with, he had always been correct. Never had he hit a woman, never had he forced himself upon a woman. He hadn't laid a hand on his ex wife, although she had been a real bitch, and would have deserved it.

Not that he was fucking prince charming, or the main character from a romance. He knew what he wanted and he usually got it.

Things with Kate were different, though. He was acting differently. He was being a fucking boy scout!

While he took a deep breath, after the most intense kiss he had ever experienced, he thought about the fact that he had been a gentleman, so far.

He had used all his self-control not to touch her like a horny teenager, especially when Kate's hands had started roaming all over his body, touching him anywhere but where he had really needed her to touch him. He had almost lost it when she had moaned in his mouth.

He was a fucking boy scout, alright.

A breathless boy scout, who couldn't stop smiling like an idiot!

Kate's hand was still on his shoulder and she was looking at him wide eyed; her face was flushed with passion, her lips were swollen from their kiss, and Seth was sure he was going to burst into flames, if they didn't do something soon, very soon. The bedroom was close. Very close.

The couch was closer.

So was the floor.

Not to mention the shower stall, which wasn't really close, but had its advantages, after all.

Kate tilted her hand down, and touched his chest with her fingertips and Seth thought that she could probably hear how strongly his heart was beating…and he didn't care.

They were still so close, and with his mind's eyes Seth saw himself lifting the girl up and laying her on his lap. He shook his head, instead, and his smile grew even bigger – which he didn't imagine it could be possible. -

Neither of them said anything, they just kept looking at each other and then, as one, once again their lips met. Without hesitancy, that time.

They had to get up from there, he decided, before they ended up making love on that battered couch.

And since when had he used the term, "making love", anyway?

Kate interrupted his musings when she started moving, only to end up sitting on his lap, just like he had envisioned it, mere seconds before. His lips moved away from hers and her moan of frustration was replaced by one of pleasure when he immediately reattached them to her throat and shoulders where he could finally taste her skin.

"Kate" He breathed.

And since when was his voice so thick with passion? He'd had women in his life, lots of them…and yet he wasn't sure his voice had ever been that low, that full of passion.

While he had been busy thinking about how throaty his voice had become, Kate had lifted his sweater up and was now touching his chest.

"Bedroom. Now." He said, almost roaring those words.

Although Kate nodded, none of them attempted to get up from the couch, especially when his lips covered Kate's nipple through the fabric of her shirt. Kate arched her back, when he started teasing the nipple, which hardened right away at the mere touch of his tongue.

A distant part of his mind, the one that had never really disappeared, although he had spent most of his adult life committing crimes, screamed at him to stop or, at least, take the girl in the bedroom…and chill out while he was at it.

He didn't listen to that voice, he didn't listen to anything except for Kate's breath that was becoming more and more panting as she slowly started moving above him, and the only thing he wished…the only thing he wanted to do was to get rid of those clothes and be inside of her.

He wasn't aware of how urgent his movements had become, when moving away from her, he helped her out of her shirt and smiled with her when he finally touched her breasts.

He didn't even notice the scars on her torso. The only thing he noticed was how soft her skin was, how warm. Kate's hands ran through his hair and her lips took possession of his, and Seth let her do that, he let her take his breath away, again.

He let his hands wander on her body, feeling the warmth of her skin, tracing her scars with his fingertips, while Kate was tugging at the hem of his sweater, and he couldn't help smiling against her lips when she lightly moved away from him, sighing in frustration.

"Kate" He said in a husky voice. "Bedroom. Now…or we ain't gonna leave this couch!"

She nodded at his words, but from the look in her eyes while she kept moving over him, teasing him, he knew that she didn't want to.

There wasn't ice in Kate's eyes, now. There was just passion and an impish light that he was sure was going to drive him to distraction.

A part of him wondered when the last time he had stopped looking at a woman's eyes before having sex had been…and he didn't care when he realized that it hadn't probably ever happened.

He realized that he had been looking at Kate, without moving, without talking…and that she'd been doing the same, he could feel her hands on his chest, and his hands were still on her hips.

So, that was what being in love felt like?

Seth smiled as Kate helped him out of his sweater.

He could get used to it.

Kate had moved, again, and her lips were now on his naked skin, and her tongue had just started tracing the lines of his tattoo, when they both heard knocking on the door.

'_I should have seen it coming!' _He thought, gritting his teeth in frustration.

Kate tilted her head up and under other circumstances he'd have probably found the look of disappointment and curiosity on her face very funny.

He didn't find it funny at that moment, however.

They didn't move and Seth didn't even realize that he was holding Kate to him, attempting to shield her somehow with this body.

"Are you waiting for someone?" Kate asked in a low voice.

"Sure, the mayor with the fucking towns keys!"

Once again, they heard knocking on the door, and Seth tilted his head down for a second, before quickly kissing Kate's forehead, who a second later moved away from him and got up from the couch.

"Jack!" it was a man outside; he was still knocking on the door, using the name he usually gave to vampire killers.

Seth grabbed the sweater from the floor, he could feel Kate's eyes on him, but he decided to ignore the girl for a few seconds, while he put on the sweater and took from the back pocket of his jeans the small gun he always kept with him, even when he was home.

Only when he was near the door did he look at Kate: she was sitting cross legged on the couch, she was wearing the tee shirt; she looked calm, the look in her eyes was cold, blank, as if nothing had happened, as if they hadn't been making out on that couch like horny teenagers just a few seconds before. The icy look in her eyes had come back.

He knew that coldness didn't really belong to her; he knew it was something she used. She always kept her shit together…no matter what happened. She used that coldness, as much as she used the stakes or _his_ gun.

He turned toward the door and squared his shoulders, and as he opened it he cocked the gun. He heard Kate getting up from the couch and take a step toward him.

Seth recognized the man on the doorstep: he was in his early forties, he was tall, slender, brown haired, he was wearing sunglasses, which couldn't quite hide his chiseled features and was dressed in black.

He had met that man when he had come to town a few days before; he had been in the Church, he had met him when he had asked the vampire killer priest of the town to bless the water and the bullets.

"I got to talk to you. Both of you" The man said.

Seth creased his brows: how the fuck did he know Kate was with him? And why hadn't he shot him, already?

"Do you?" He asked with a knit of his eyebrows.

The man nodded, stifling his hands in his coat's pockets. Seth didn't move, didn't gesture him inside and could hear Kate getting closer to him.

"You're in trouble, guys…" The man said, and his full lips stretched in a half smile at those words.

Seth was tempted to snort at the man's words, he reached out and grabbed him by his shoulders and pushed him inside the apartment. He kicked the door closed and when he turned to face the man he wasn't surprised seeing that Kate had grabbed the man by the shoulders and was circling his neck with an arm.

Under any other circumstances he'd have probably smiled. He'd have smiled because for the first time in a very long time he wasn't alone. Not any more. That wasn't the moment to smile, though.

He aimed the gun at the man and said, "Mind telling what the fuck that mean?"

Before vampires took his wife and son away from him, Gregory Sheridan had been a psychologist, a good one. Then there had been that vacation in Mexico and those fucking bikers that had turned into vampires and slaughtered his only son, just for fun…and turned his wife into a vampire.

He had killed his wife and just for a stroke of luck he'd been able to get out of that nightmare alive. Once he'd come back to Canada, while he was still trying to figure out what exactly had happened and tried to make sense of _why _it had happened, they had approached him: the vampire killers of his town. He didn't even know at the time that almost every town had vampire killers. He hadn't even digested the fact that vampires were real.

He had become a vampire killer out of necessity more than for a willingness to kill vampires. On the outside his life hadn't changed: he still was a psychologist, he still did what he used to…but that was just the surface. He was a vampire killer now. He went out patrolling, he helped other vampire killers; he helped Father Benson, the leader of the vampire killers of the town to keep a low profile.

It had been ten years since he had become a vampire killer and for the past five and a half years he had heard rumors, coming from South America, about two American vampire killers. He had heard all about their efficiency and cruelty in killing vampires. He had heard about the girl who wandered from town to town traveling in a Motor Home. He had heard she was a cold, mean bitch with long brown hair and that she was even worse than vampires as for cruelty.

He had heard about the tattooed man, who killed vampires with guns with special bullets on which he carved crosses, when he didn't rip their hearts out bare handed. He had heard that he stole money, weapons and cars from them.

The American vampire killers had become some kind of a legend in their underground world, the echoes of their battles had made them become bigger than life; he had met the man, Jack, the previous week. He had entered the Church, their Headquarter, draped in a long black coat, he had noticed bruises and abrasions on his face and knuckles. His face had looked tired but his voice had been steady and sharp, as he had asked Father Benson to bless water and bullets for him. He hadn't talked, he had barely shaken their hands, he had been all business.

Once got what he had come for, he had left barely saying good-bye, the only thing he had said had been that he'd get in touch. Gregory had known he was lying, though: Jack…didn't make friends, didn't share anything of his life, didn't give a damn about their world or their rules.

He had recognized him, even if that had been the first time he had seen him. Everyone knew Jack wasn't his real name, but none of the vampire killers felt like investigating about it. It was one of the rules: it didn't matter who one had been before, the only thing that mattered was the fight.

The only thing that mattered was that when Jack or Kate were around, vampires died and local vampire killers' job could become either easier…or, sometimes, a lot more complicated.

He had been surprised when he had been told that Jack and Kate knew each other. He had been told all about their meeting and how Kate, the same woman who killed whole nests of vampires without a hitch had fainted when she had seen him.

He hade made them follow the previous night and he had been told of how they had tore apart a bar in the outskirts of town. All by themselves.

As a psychologist he was fascinated by their dynamic and by their personalities, that's why he had volunteered to go and talk to them, knowing he'd find them still together.

He should have expected that kind of welcoming, he thought as Jack was still aiming the gun at his head and Kate was holding him by the neck.

As far as he knew Jack and Kate had been fighting without interruption for years. As far as he knew they had always fought on their own, without keeping other people around; they had both refused to be part of the underground world of vampire killers, they had been alone…and yet, as he had noticed, they had acted in perfect synchrony a few moments before, almost as if watching each other's back was something natural for them. Something they were used to doing.

"I'm waiting…" Jack said and Greg noticed how the man had narrowed his eyes.

"I'll be glad to explain everything when you stop…" He stopped in mid sentence when Kate's grip on his neck intensified.

"No, no…see? When he asks you for explanations you don't fuck around, you just talk!" She hissed, against his face.

"Vampires" He said. Kate's grip on his neck lessened but Jack didn't lower his gun, he looked like he wasn't going to any time soon.

"Mother fuckers, who suck people dry, we know that…and?" He said.

"You're not safe here, you have to leave town, and do it now…" He said.

Jack lowered his gun for a second, only to aim it lower at his abdomen when he asked, "Who sent you here? How did you know she was here?"

"Father Benson did…you met him last week. We have been keeping an eye on you" Greg explained, noticing how Jack kept casting glances at Kate.

It looked almost like they were silently communicating, deciding whether to get rid of him or letting him go, eventually Jack lowered his gun and put it away in the waistband of his jeans and a moment later Kate let him go and said, "You were saying something about vampires…and trouble for us"

"They are going to hunt you down when the sun sets. They're not going to stop, not after last night."

"And who told you that? Did they hire a fucking PR?" Jack asked, creasing his brow.

Although Jack wasn't moving, there was a tension, an edge about him, clear in his body's language and in the way he looked at him and all around in the room.

One could almost see the tension in his body, the hardness in his brown eyes lightly faded, though, when he looked at the girl behind him. That was something he hadn't expected.

"Something like that…" He said, "They sent a message for us into one of ours' mouth." Greg shrugged and added, "It goes without saying we only got the head of our man…"

Jack just knitted an eyebrow at his words, as if to say: "So fucking what?" and Greg thought that after all those years spent fighting vampires, none of them was particularly impressed by vampires' cruelty, not even Kate who had just snorted at his words.

"What did the message say?" The girl asked.

Greg turned toward her, and only then did he notice that she was wearing a pair of shorts and a tee shirt. He thought he wouldn't be far from the truth if he guessed those clothes belonged to Jack.

Jack suddenly grabbed his shoulder in an iron grip, making him start and forcing him to turn toward him. The man's eyes were dark…and the look in it was vicious while he asked, "What the fuck did the message say?"

Greg cleared his throat, judging by the man's stare, he had been probably looking at Kate with his mouth opened in wonder. He had suspected the involvement between the two vampire killers had been more than professional, but now he was sure of that, at least if he had to give his opinion based on Jack's behavior. Not to mention the fact that Kate was probably wearing his clothes.

Greg sighed before saying; "They said they are going to find you guys and skin you alive, beginning with you, Kate. " He looked at her and continued, "They said what happened in Mexico looks like a walk in the park compared to what they're going to do with you. They said they would skin you…and whoever gets in the way. They said that if we care about our town we have to get rid of you and do it now"

Kate took some steps and she went next to Jack, and despite what he had just told them, she was smiling. And Greg couldn't help the goose bumps that covered his arms' skin when he saw that smile. It was creepy.

"That's what they said?" It was the only thing she said.

Greg wondered whether Kate had noticed that Jack's look had darkened while he had told them the contents of the message, it took a look at the girl to know that she hadn't noticed or if she had, she was really good at hiding that.

"Is that all?" Jack asked in a low voice.

Greg shrugged his shoulders, "Yes there is. Kate? I took the liberty of bringing the Motor Home here. Kiernan sends his regards"

"Son of a…" She roared, she moved toward him, and Greg was sure she was going to hit him, Jack though stopped her, by putting a hand on her shoulder.

Kate stopped, and Greg saw how she flared her nostrils, trying to calm down. It didn't seem to work, because she turned toward the man and angrily asked, "What the fuck is your problem?"

"I say we get the hell away from here…" He said.

Greg had to hide his disbelief. He had expected more of a fight from the man. As far as he knew threats had no effects over him, except to push him to keep fighting. Jack seemed to sense his disbelief because he looked at him for a second and then turning to look at Kate he added, "It's their town…and you wanted to leave anyway, didn't you?"

Kate was as incredulous as he was, and there was anger in her eyes, it didn't last long, though and was soon replaced by coldness and detachment as she tilted her hands up in resignation. She left the room and a second later Greg heard her shutting one of the doors behind them.

Jack tilted his head down, and Greg saw how he was clenching his jaws, probably trying to keep his cool, not to let out the anger he could see reflected in his eyes. It was more than mere anger…it was fury, it was almost tangible in the room, it was a murderous fury.

He was sure, in that moment, that Jack was capable of killing another human being, he was sure he was restraining himself from killing him.

He wondered, once again, who Jack had been before he started killing vampires for a living. In his experience there were two kind of vampire killers: those who killed vampires out of simple faith, just like Father Benson, and those, just like him, who killed vampires out of sorrow, anger, because their lives had been torn up by vampires

Whose category did Kate and Jack belong to? The lines around their eyes spoke volumes about pain and loss, and it was clear, at least for him, that they both had lost loved ones because of vampires…yet, somehow, he felt that it wasn't just pain pushing a barely legal girl and a man who looked like an ex con to fight vampires.

"Is that all?" Jack asked, breaking his train of thoughts. There was still anger in his eyes and on his face, but he was keeping it under a tight control, now.

Greg put off his sunglasses; Jack creased his brow but didn't seem particularly impressed with the huge scar that covered up his right eye making him blind. That scar was one last gift from his wife, given to him just seconds before he rammed a make shift stake into her heart. Jack put his hands on his hips and repeated, "Is that all?"

"Actually no" Greg said. He rummaged into the pockets of his coat, and wasn't surprised when he heard the man taking a step toward him, and he was sure that if he had tilted his head up in that moment, he'd have found him close to him, ready to block him…or kill him if he had deemed it necessary.

He took a white envelope from the inner pocket of his coat and looked at him while he said, "I've got a phone call from some friends. They're near Vancouver. It looks like they're having problems getting rid of some parasites"

He handed the envelope to Jack who took it without opening and said, "They really need a hand over there"

Jack casually tossed the envelope on a chair behind him. He didn't talk, he didn't ask questions about those vampires. Greg had expected that kind of reaction, just like he knew he wasn't going to tell him if he was willing to go to help the group of vampire killers near Vancouver.

It was clear that both Jack and Kate didn't like to take orders and neither of them wanted to be tied to any group of vampire killers. That's why he had been so surprised by their interaction.

He nodded at Jack and got to the door. He side glanced at him noticing that as soon as he had turned his back at him, Jack had cast a glance at the closed door behind which Kate had disappeared a few moments before.

He had heard tales, about both the vampire killers; he had heard tales about how they both were like war machines: cold and ruthless and cruel almost as much as the vampires they killed.

He had heard tales about how it looked like both of them had ice flowing into their veins, instead of blood. As far as he had been told, nothing upset them too much, nothing moved them, nothing could really hurt them.

What he had noticed seeing them, though, was another story altogether; a story no one had ever told him, probably because none of the vampire killers had ever met the two of them together. Yes, they were cold; they never lost their cool. Yes, Jack looked like a pro with guns and Kate hadn't skipped a beat while she had heard the threats against her.

They were still capable of having feelings, though. That much was clear for him.

And they were in for a hell of a ride.

Gregory Sheridan had been a good psychologist, but it didn't take a shrink to realize that the two vampire killers were in love with each other …and either they hadn't a clue about being in love or, as he suspected, they didn't have a clue about how to deal with those feelings.

Romantic relationships between vampire killers didn't usually last, unless they decided to change life, to give up on the fight…otherwise they ended up in tragedy.

The thing was…there weren't lots of vampire killers who willingly gave up on the fight…it just didn't happen. People, who were introduced to that world of blood and pain and monsters, rarely if ever, turned their back at it and pretended it didn't exist.

Relationships between vampire killers were dangerous…for them and people around them.

He opened the door and took another glance at Jack who, for a moment, looked like he was lost in thought.

They were in trouble alright.

Relationship between vampire killers ended up in tragedy one way or another…and with Kate and Jack involved? He didn't even want to think of what would happen if one of them were killed.

He refused to think of what would happen if one of them ever became a vampire.

Kate and Jack were in trouble…and they weren't the only ones.

As he got out from the building where Jack - or whatever his real name was – lived, he decided he had to keep observing them, but first he had some phone calls to make.

Who the hell were Jack and Kate, really? How did they start killing vampires? How and when had they met for the first time?


	8. Chapter 8

The image she was looking at in the mirror was different than the one she had seen not even a hour ago. Kate Fuller sighed as she leant over the sink to better look at her reflected image in the mirror; the light which had sparkled in her eyes had gone, the only trace of what had almost happened with Seth was just the light swell of her lips and she couldn't help touching them with her fingertips as she closed her eyes.

She had been an idiot. She had been a damn idiot.

She had longed to see Seth again, with all of herself, despite forcing herself not to. She had looked for him with her eyes, with her heart, in every bar, every alley, in every newspaper news for six long years.

She hadn't foreseen that the hard discipline she had imposed to herself for six years, a discipline made of loneliness, pain and blood could be so easily and quickly shattered.

It had taken a few hours to forget whom…rather what she had become. It had taken a few hours to forget that she couldn't afford to dream, to hope…to love.

It had taken a few hours for her to fall all over again for Seth Gecko. The old Kate, the one who had seen her whole family die in Mexico and the new Kate, the one who killed vampires and collected scars on her body and what was left of her soul had merged into one and had fallen for Seth Gecko.

And she couldn't afford that. She couldn't allow herself to forget, because on one thing Seth had been right: the Titty Twister's vampires had indeed bit their souls…they had changed them. There couldn't be any turning back for her; there couldn't be a normal life for her. Not any more.

The vampire killer's visit had been the mother of all wake up calls.

Just because for a few hours, without even noticing, she had deluded herself into thinking she could be happy, that she could stop being lonely, it didn't mean vampires would stop killing, would stop threatening her. Just because for a few hours time hadn't mattered, it didn't mean the last six years of her life didn't happen.

Just because Seth wanted to protect her, it didn't mean he could succeed. She had been furious at him when he had told her to leave town. She had been furious at him when she had seen his eyes darken when the vampire killer had talked about Mexico. She had been furious when the vampire killer had looked at her as if she was a fucking guinea pig.

She had been furious at herself because she had showed her feelings, furious at the town's vampires because they knew about what had happened to her in Mexico, when she herself couldn't even remember what had really happened that night…and wasn't even sure she wanted to.

She had been frightened by the vampires' threats, toward her…and toward Seth. For six year she had hoped that Seth was still alive…and the previous night while they were fighting together, part of her had feared for him, although she knew he was more than capable of taking care of himself…. and was damn good at it.

For a few hours she had really thought that she could live in that bubble of happiness and peace she had been engulfed by when Seth had caught her fall; for a few hours she had wanted to delude herself into thinking that it could last forever…but it didn't work that way. Not for them.

Seth killed vampires, just like her. Seth played with life and death, every single night…just like she did. Seth didn't care about living or dying…and Kate was frightened by that, although, she felt the same thing. She was frightened…it was the kind of terror she hadn't felt ever since Santanico Pandemonium had showed her true face before biting Richie Gecko.

Fury.

Fright.

Fear.

Kate wasn't used to feeling things so strongly. Not any more. Whether it was happiness, passion, love or fury and fright…it was just too much for her, after all that time.

The vampire killers said she was as cold as ice, and it was the truth.

It had been her fear, her hesitancy to mess things up that night at the Titty Twister. It had been pain and sorrow and residual of fear to make her sleepy and fuck things up the day after, when she had fallen asleep in her Motor Home.

The only weapon she had had…the only useful weapon she had had for the past six years had been her coldness. Being cold, detached, unforgiving had become second nature for her. In order to survive and not to go crazy she had learnt to freeze her feelings, to forget what mercy was like.

It had been that…or letting her heart implode.

And now, that tattooed son of a bitch had come back into her life, thinking he could protect her, thinking he could make her remember that she was still a girl, that there were other things in life besides blood suckers, pain and quick fucks on the backseats of cars or pick ups, with men she didn't even bother to know the names of…or recall their faces afterwards.

Kate blinked her eyes open when she heard Seth knocking on the door.

_Now he's knocking?_

She thought, and couldn't help the half smile that crept up on her lips.

"It's open," She said, turning toward the door.

Seth entered the bathroom and looked around, and Kate saw how he glanced at her, he almost looked surprised seeing that she had put on her jeans and boots.

"The dickhead's gone…" Seth said.

Kate nodded and said, "I think I'm going to go too…mind if I keep the shirt? Mine is trashed…"

Seth shook his shoulders and then did a double take, almost as if he hadn't registered her words at the beginning. He was confused and Kate decided to ignore that.

He took some steps, but Seth blocked her, by putting himself in front of the door and said, "Kate, about what I said before…"

Kate tilted her head up and looked at him; why was that man, a killer, a thief, a mean mother fucking vampire killer, looking at her like that? Why was the look in his eyes so full of…what? Warmth? Care?

Did he do that on purpose? Did he consciously decide to fuck up her life every time their paths crossed?

"Forget it, Seth. You were right, I wanted to leave anyway…"

"Ok" He said, "Just give me five minutes and we'll…"

"No!" She said, shaking her head.

Seth kept still, he didn't say a word, he didn't move even when she took another step, closing the distance between them. The son of a bitch didn't want to let her out! She put her hands on her hips and said, "Seth? I gotta go…"

Not only didn't Seth let her out of the bathroom, he put his hands on his hips as well, and looked at her and Kate wondered where the hell she had put her gun.

"Did you hear what he said? I have to leave town. You wanted me to leave, didn't you?" She said, she moved but Seth was quicker than her, he lunged forward and grabbed her by her shoulders.

"What the fuck are you doing? Are you crazy?" She hissed, struggling as the grip on her shoulder strengthened. She was strong, enough to surprise and kill vampires, and yet, she couldn't pull away from his grip. He was just too strong for her.

"Can you wait a goddamn second?" He hissed back, and the grip on her shoulders became even stronger.

He was hurting her, now, but she didn't talk, she just arched an eyebrow at him, silently urging him to speak.

"The vampire killer told me about a situation in Vancouver…" Seth said in a low voice. They were so close to each other now, that she could hear both their strong heartbeats.

And why was Seth body so damn warm against hers? Why did his scent filled her senses? Why were his hands on her naked skin fucking up her plans? Why was her resolve crumbling down?

"Which kind of situation?" She asked, and was surprised by how calm her voice sounded, despite she could feel her heart furiously pumping in her chest and her throat was dry.

"He gave me an envelope, I haven't opened it yet, but I guess it's always the same kind of situation…" He answered.

Kate nodded, wondering whether Seth had realized that she wasn't struggling to free herself any more, if he had…why was he still gripping her shoulders?

"I wanna make a deal…" Seth started.

Kate rolled her eyes, barely resisting the urge to tell him how well the last deal he had made with someone she knew had ended. She didn't, though, but Seth had probably had the same thoughts, because the grip on her shoulders suddenly lessened.

"What?" She asked. She wasn't sure she even wanted to know what he had in mind. She just wanted to go away and forget their paths had crossed, again. She just wanted to stop feeling.

"We get to Vancouver, see what the fuck is going on over there … we part ways, piece of cake…" He said.

Kate looked at him: Seth was very serious about that and she couldn't help wondering whether he was aware he was gripping her shoulders again and yet, the look in his eyes was still gentle, still caring, still warm and Kate could clearly hear all of her defenses, her resolve shattering all around her.

Why was he doing this to her? Why did he want to destroy what was left of her life as well? Why was she allowing him to do that to her?

She knew it was crazy, she knew it, even while she calmly said, "Fine…"

She was finally able to pull away from him and added, more for herself than him, "But here it's how it works, Seth: I'm going down and start the Motor Home. I'm waiting for five minutes. One second more and I'm gone. Deal or not deal…are we clear on that?"

She saw Seth clenching his jaws, forcing himself not to speak. She crossed her arms over her chest and added, "One more thing, 'Jack': I've been on my own for a long time, now. I don't need a fucking baby sitter!"

She exited the bathroom and stopped for a second in the living room to get her coat and backpack, and left the apartment.

Seth's voice made her stop on her tracks. He was behind her, she hadn't even heard him leaving the bathroom until he said, "It's just until we get there, Kate. Once we're there, we part ways. "

It was a trap. It was a lie, the only one Seth had ever told her. She knew that and later on her suspicions were confirmed, but when it happened it was already too late.

----

He had to be nuts. That was the only explanation for his behavior for the past few minutes. Seth was fucking nuts.

He looked around, making sure he wasn't forgetting anything.

He had collected his stuff in record time, he had dressed in record time and he knew, without a doubt that he would get to the Motor Home in record time.

He had gone crazy. And he knew exactly when it had happened: he had gone nuts when the vampire killer, Greg, that was his name, had talked about Mexico and what had happened to Kate there. After he had left her.

To think that one of the reasons he had left Kate in the middle of the desert in Mexico had been to spare her from the hell that El Rey was.

Great. Just. Fucking. Great.

He had wanted her to be safe…from him and that shit-hole known as El Rey and instead she had ended up in a deeper kind of shit, while he spent sleepless nights, killed vampires and fucked women he didn't even really want.

He had gone through the motions for the past six years, day after day. He had killed vampires to be able to close his eyes at nights, he had eaten not to drop on the pavement, he had looked in the mirrors of the dozens of motel rooms and little rat-holes he had rented through the years, and had met the face of a stranger.

The guy whose reflection he had gotten used to seeing in the mirror, didn't speak much, he saved lives of people he'd willingly robbed or killed before. The man had learnt what real self-control was like. It had stopped being a matter of keeping his shit together, of keeping his cool…he had been forced to learn…in order to kill as many vampires as possible.

The guy whose reflection he kept seeing in the mirrors of motel rooms of rat-holes he rented for a few days, scarcely resembled the man who had once left a trail of blood and guts and dead bodies behind him while trying to get across the border to Mexico. He resembled that man…but he wasn't the same person any more.

And then it had taken a little more than a day to smile, more than he had done for a long time, long before he was even convicted for murder. It had taken a little more than a day, to talk, to eat and actually taste the food he ate, to sleep without dreams, to fight alongside someone who watched his back, to kiss and being kissed almost senseless.

It had taken a little more than a day to just…start living again, and enjoy doing so, right when he had started to believe it was never going to happen again.

It had taken a little more than a day to fall in love…for the first time in a very long time, long after he had given up on the whole thing.

Kate couldn't care less about vampires' threats, but he had taken them very seriously. If they had threatened him, he knew exactly what he'd done: he'd have waited for the sun to set, and then he'd have killed all of them, all the vampires in that fucking town.

Threats against him tended to piss him off.

Threats against the woman he had just found out he was in love with, didn't piss him off. They were scaring him…and he hated being scared. Threats against the woman he was in love with, had pushed him to temporary become a doormat and lie…in order to protect her and bring her away from that shit-hole.

He had lied to Kate…and he hated lying. He was a thief, he was a killer, he wasn't a fucking liar. He'd never been.

He had become her doormat, and he hadn't allowed that to anyone. Ever. Not even Richie.

And to make it worse: he didn't give a shit about it. What it mattered was that when the sun set they had to be as far away from that town and its vampires as they could. It went without saying that if one of those fuckers tore Greg, the blind vampire killer, to pieces he'd probably shake his hand before killing him, of course.

He thought while he hurried down the stairs, that as always he had succeeded in messing up his already messed up life: how did he plan to protect a woman whose life was all about killing vampires? How could he love a woman who constantly played with life and death?

How were they going to live together in the Motor Home, even for a few days, without killing each other?

Kate was waiting for him; she was outside the Motor Home. Seth noticed she was wearing a large white sweater under her black coat and was surprised when he saw that she looked calmer, now, she was even smiling. She opened the door of the Motor Home for him and waited as he put his stuff inside, without even entering the bastard.

"I've got to take care of the car before we go…" He said getting out from the Motor Home. Years spent being a criminal still paid off. He always instinctively knew where to go to get rid of stuff and make money out of it.

Kate nodded; Seth was about to say something when Kate interrupted him saying, "Seth…about what happened in your apartment…"

"I know you can take care of yourself," He said.

Kate lightly shook her head no and said, "I wasn't talking about that…"

Seth creased his brows, puzzled. It took him a moment to get what Kate was referring to and when he did he moved toward her. Kate's voice stopped him, though, saying, "Let's just forget about it. It's better this way…for both of us "

It hurt. He had gotten punches in the gut less painful than Kate's words. He didn't want to forget, he didn't want to pretend nothing had happened. If that dick head hadn't knocked on the door, he'd be inside Kate, now, he'd be kissing her lips…he wouldn't be freezing his ass out in the open of that cold Canadian morning.

He wanted to tell Kate that he didn't want to forget, that it wasn't going to happen. He wanted a vampire to kill or a human – preferably Greg- to beat into a bloody pulp. So maybe it would stop hurting like a son of a bitch!

Instead he didn't move for a few seconds, while he forced a smile on his lips, even if he felt them becoming numb as he smiled.

The wind was blowing, it was a cold, strong wind that moved the hems of their coats but Seth couldn't really feel it. He was still smiling but he wasn't even aware of that.

"Seth?" She asked in a low voice.

Seth blinked once twice, then he wordlessly turned and headed toward his car, giving his back to her.

"Did you hear me?" She asked.

Seth stopped, his shoulders squared, his hands closed in tight fists in the pockets of his coat, and that fucking smile still plastered on his face. "I did…" He said.

"And?" She tentatively asked.

"Like I said, I've got to take care of the car before we leave."

"But…" She started.

He didn't even turn when he talked, his voice was all business when he said: "I've got nothing to say, sugar When I do and it's cruel enough I'll tell ya. For now I just want to leave this fucking place."

He slowly turned to look at her: Kate was looking at him, an unreadable expression on her face. He wasn't even aware that his smile had gotten wider as he got into his car.

Only when did he close the door the smile finally faded, and while he started his car he couldn't help thinking that the trip to Vancouver was going to be long. Very long.

He was screwed, but what else was new?


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: sorry for the long wait...and thank you for the reviews!!! RL definitely got in the way :( **

**The parts in Italic are dreams! **

Chapter 2

- The journey -

_**I**__n my opinion seeing is to know_

_The things we hold are always first to go_

_And who's to say we won't end up alone_

Crosses.

There were crosses everywhere he looked; they were of various sizes and materials and covered almost every wall of the Motor Home. Seth was looking around, feeling the beginning of a headache just looking at all those crosses.

The Motor home had changed since he'd last been in it…how the fuck could Kate live in such a trap?

Yet she did. Seth had noticed that it was home for her ever since they had gotten into the Motor Home.

She had showed him where to hide his weapons in a secret compartment he was positive it hadn't been there six years before. He had seen the vast assortment of weapons Kate had put together through the years: stakes, brass knuckles, a few crossbows, a couple of guns, a sawn-off shot gun, a couple of swords, knives, a machete and a lash. He wouldn't be surprised if looking further he found a fucking rocket launcher!

She had showed him where to put his stuff and he had noticed that Kate, just like him, had quite a collection of medicines hidden in her Motor Home. While in the bathroom he had noticed, besides some stuff for women on which he hadn't wanted to investigate further, some valium, tavor, prozac and lots and lots of painkillers, hidden in a secret cabinet which he was sure, would have made any drug dealer a happy camper. He had found other weapons in the bathroom, as well: a gun in a tiny basket under the sink, a few stakes in the shower stall, and crosses, lots of them, on the walls.

There was a laptop on a table and on the only wall partially free from crosses, there were two maps: one of South America and one of Canada.

What was really surprising Seth was the total lack of personal items such as family pictures…or even Scott's guitar. It was almost as if she never had any family to begin with.

Almost as if she had read his mind, Kate who was making some coffee said, "I needed the space, so I threw the old stuff away…most of the things had been already destroyed, anyway…I smashed the guitar on the head of one of the motherfuckers when…you know…"

Kate didn't finish her sentence, she shrugged her shoulders and handed him a cup of coffee. She leant against the fridge and after she sipped from her mug she said, "I think we have to get away from here, and do it as soon as possible. We can't stop for now…and sure as hell we cannot stop after dusk. Been there, done that…don't wanna repeat it…"

"So?" Seth asked.

He had liked how Kate's eyes had lit up while she had talked: it had been like watching fire sparkling in her eyes.

She was scared, though, he could see it clear on her face, the fear was sparkling as well, just like the fire and intelligence in her eyes …and it was an exciting sight.

"So we're going to take turns to drive. We're going to stop to get food and oil" She ran a hand through her hair and blinked as if she had just recalled something and looked at him asking, "Can you drive a Motor Home?"

Seth just shrugged his shoulders and nodded, she did the same and said, "Then I'll drive until dusk if that's okay with you…"

Seth opened his mouth to object but closed it, realizing it would be useless, just like he knew he wasn't going to get any sleep, so he just finished his coffee without talking.

Talking right now would be useless.

Kate was freaking out…she'd been freaking out ever since the vampire killer had knocked on his door, interrupting them. Kate needed to keep her shit together; she needed to be in control of what was happening, he could see that…because he often felt the same thing; he often needed to do the same.

The fact that he understood where her behavior came from it didn't mean he wasn't hanging on every shred of self control he had, not to tear that Motor Home apart, beginning with those crosses…it just meant that the headache was getting worse and he'd end up breaking his jaws because he was clenching them too much in order to keep his mouth shut.

Kate smiled at him and it was the first real smile she smiled ever since he had helped her out of her shirt in his apartment. "Knock yourself out…" She just said.

Seth just raised a brow at her words and, as she started the motor home, he kept looking around: despite the crosses and the weapons and all the stuff she used to fight, the motor home was tidy, clean. Seth noticed a few gym tools such as weights and a rope. He noticed books as well and he couldn't help wondering whether Kate had somehow finished school.

Jacob had told him during the journey toward the border, prompted by his many questions, that Kate was a brilliant student, so much that her teachers had wanted her to graduate a year earlier.

Six years later Kate used her brains to kill fucking bloodsuckers. The world was a shitty place, Seth thought shaking his head.

"There are some blankets in the closet," Kate said from the driver's seat.

"Right between a nuke and a flamethrower?" Seth asked getting to the closet.

"I had to trade the flamethrower" She mumbled.

Seth blinked in surprise, he got close to Kate and asked, "You had a flamethrower?"

"Yeah" Kate said, side glancing him through the rear view mirror.

"You're shitting me! A fucking flamethrower? Where did you find it?" Seth asked.

Kate smiled and shook her head, before saying, "Mexico, they had it hidden in a nest. I traded it for the hidden compartments and the laptop"

"You traded a flamethrower for a laptop? Babe, you're nuts!" He commented smiling at her.

Kate smiled back at him and said, "Well, the hidden compartments are useful, especially when you get to the borders…"

Seth went to the back to the motor home and sat; he relaxed against the back of the couch and said, "Whatever. But if we get another flamethrower we'll keep it, okay?"

Seth saw Kate's shoulders stiffen at his words, she didn't talk, but he didn't need to see her face to know that the ice in her eyes had probably become thicker as a fucking brick wall by now.

He closed his eyes and was surprised when there weren't shadows becoming monsters behind his closed lids. There were just the noises coming from the street, the rain that was ticking against the windows and the radio Kate had turned on with its volume low.

He couldn't help smiling when he realized that Kate was scanning the police's radio.

His smile widened: what else was Kate hiding in the Motor Home? Would she ever stop surprising him?

Seth fell asleep as he was thinking that he hoped Kate would never stop surprising him.

Ever.

- "_D__on't leave me "_

_Kate's voice was so full of fear as she said those words; her slender body was __pressed__ against his as vampires were all around them. _

_How many vampires were there, around them, ready to kill them? How many? _

_A fucking legion! _

_He'd been killing vampires for hours and yet they kept popping up. _

_Their blood excited the vampires; the smell of their fear was a fucking beacon to them. Seth knew the smell of their fear was now stuck to their skin, even if he had stopped being afraid. He had stopped feeling anything when he had killed his brother. _

_He didn't feel tired. He didn't feel any pain. The only thing he was aware of, was Kate's body pressed against his as she begged him not to leave her. _

"_Shoot the holes!" He was screaming at her. _

_How long were they going to keep those fuckers away from them? How long before they became food? How long before they became bloodsuckers as well?_

_Kate was shooting holes, making beams of light that were keeping bloodsuckers away; they were still close, back to back, trying to protect each other. _

_If there was a God, He'd finally decided to look down toward them, because Carlos' voice beyond that fucking door came just at the right time. _

"_Shoot at the door!" Seth screamed at the top of his lungs. _

_Light. _

_Light finally. Light filled the Titty Twister, sending those fucking bloodsuckers back to the hell where they belonged, as Kate and he ran from it, and he could feel the Titty Twister exploding and it burned as much as the sun on his skin. _

_It was burning hot, and the blood on his skin stunk to high heaven and if he could, he'd have killed Carlos, instead he settled for just punching him. _

_Why, out of all the shit holes in Mexico had he chosen the Titty Twister?_

_His body, his mind, was going on autopilot as he talked to Carlos, arranging a better deal with him._

_He gave the money to Carlos and took other money for Kate, as well. _

"_I'm sorry," He said. It was the truth…he had come to respect the Fullers the previous day; he'd have let them go. _

_He couldn't even look at Kate in the eyes. He hadn't been able to really look at her, ever since Scott had died, ever since she had shot her own brother, blowing him and the bloodsuckers who were eating him alive all the way to hell. _

_He heard Kate's nervous laughter and then tilted his head up when she said, "Yeah…I'm sorry too…"_

_Giving her that money seemed so pathetic, so lame to him…but it was the only thing he could really do for her. _

"_Seth…" Kate said, "Need some company?"_

_The smell of blood on his skin, on his clothes under that burning sun was becoming unbearable, he put off his jacket while he said, "Kate? Do you know where I'm going? Do you know what El Rey is?"_

"_No" She said. And Seth didn't have troubles guessing what Kate was probably thinking, "It can't be worse than this…"_

_How wrong she was. _

_He turned his back at her. Taking her with him would be so easy: Kate was a bright kid, she wouldn't ask any questions, and he wouldn't allow other people to ask any. _

_It would be simple…until she realized he had taken her to hell. A Christian girl, a preacher's daughter in that shit hole known as El Rey, with a bastard like him. _

_No. He wouldn't do that to her. Not after what she'd just been through. _

_He was a bastard, but he wasn't a fucking bastard. He wouldn't fuck up her life more than he had already done. He wouldn't fuck up her life because he needed company. _

"_Go home, Kate" He said. _

_Light…. where had the light gone? Why did it suddenly become all too fucking dark around him?_

"_She is home!"_

_Seth turned when he heard Santanico Pandemonium's voice hissing those words. _

_The vampire was in front of him, wearing a tight long dress. A blood-red dress, she was in front of him, and he couldn't see Kate any more. He could only hear her screaming. _

_She smiled before saying, "Welcome back to hell, Seth!"_

_Seth stretched a hand to hit her, noticing with a certain surprise that he was wearing brass knuckles. _

_He hit her with all of his strength, sending her to the ground. "How many times will I have to kill you, bitch?" He asked. _

_Santanico laughed, as she got up, and the way she did, reminded Seth of a rattlesnake "Doesn't matter, I'll always be here, Seth. I'll keep a seat for you!"_

_The vampire attacked him and Seth wasn't even aware of his hands penetrating in her chest to rip her heart out. _

_The vampire's heart was beating in his hand and Seth looked at it, puzzled, before looking around for something wooden to stake it. He knelt in front of the vampire and took off one of her stilettos. _

_Kate screamed, again, as he staked Santanico's heart with her stilettos. He threw the heart on the pavement, and walked over the green goo that had once been Santanico's body, crying Kate's name. _

_The motor home. Kate's cries were coming from there._

_The motor home's door was open. And where the fuck were Carlos and his goons?_

_He ran to the motor home, shouting Kate's name, only stopping to pick up pieces of wood from the ground, breaking them to form makeshift stakes. He noticed that the road around them was empty, silent…the only sounds he could hear were his heart, beating fast in his chest and Kate's cries…and the sharp, unmistakable sound of a lash hitting something soft…_

_Kate. She was being whipped. _

_He silently approached the camper; the smell of fresh blood mixed with old, dried one, was making him nauseous. _

_Part of him was finally realizing he was having a dream, but he still kept moving, he still kept being afraid, he still couldn't wake up. _

_He got into the Motor Home and he almost let slip the stakes when he saw Kate: she was at the center of the motor home, hanging from the ceiling, by her arms, she was naked from the waist up and was covered with blood. She was arching her back as she was being whipped. _

"_Oh man, that's what I call a fucking show!"_

_Seth closed his eyes when he heard his brother's voice behind him. Out of all the shitty dreams he could be having…why that one? And why, although he was aware he was having a dream he couldn't wake up? Why couldn't he stop being afraid?_

_Richie casually drooped an arm around his shoulders and Seth opened his eyes, only to meet the too swollen, twisted face of the demon that had once been his brother. _

"_Relax Seth…and enjoy the show!" Richard said and his lips stretched in a grotesque parody of a smile _

"_Back off…" Seth hissed, looking away from him. _

_He looked at Kate and at the blood that was pooling at her feet as the monster behind her, hidden in the dark kept whipping her. _

_Richie moaned with pleasure before saying, "I guess it's my turn, now…"_

_Richie's arm left his shoulders and Seth felt relieved for a second before he digested the vampire's words. _

"_You touch her and I…" Seth started but Richie's laughter interrupted him._

_The vampire looked at him and said, "And you what? You fucking ram a wooden stake through my heart? Besides, look at her, man! She's all wet and ready for me!"_

_Richie laughed again and Seth attacked him, while he heard Kate whispering, "Don't leave me, Seth…"_

"_Hold on, sugar! " Seth screamed, hitting Richie, the demon who had taken possession of his body with all of his strength. _

"_Oh come on, Seth!" Richie protested, just like he used to do when he was a kid and he stopped him from setting their neighbors' pets on fire. _

"_Shut the fuck up, Richie!" Seth said while he kept hitting him until the vampire collapsed to the floor. _

_He looked at the vampire as he knelt, noticing he now was looking at his brother's face and he wished he could wake up with everything he was. The fact that he knew he was dreaming, wasn't lessening what he felt, on the contrary it was making it all more vivid._

_Richie wasn't moving any more, he was just looking at him, he looked like he was actually having fun watching him struggle with his feelings. _

"_What the fuck are you looking at?" He asked, pointing the stake against his brother's chest. _

"_Just because you've fallen for her, things ain't going to change, you know that, don't you man?" Richie asked, just before Seth staked him. _

_Ramming the stake into his brother's chest was painful…just like the first time, just like every time he had relived that moment in his dreams. _

_It hurt to know that once again he hadn't been able to protect his brother. _

_It hurt realizing that Richie was right, that his little brother, the fucking nut was right. _

_It hurt realizing that although he had just relived the worst moment of his life, the dream wasn't fading away and his body didn't want to wake up. _

_He jerked his head up when he heard the lash hitting Kate again. He slowly got up, taking a few steps forward, the being behind Kate was hiding in the dark and Seth narrowed his eyes. _

"_Alright…" He said, "Cut the crap…let me see you!"_

_He took another step, stopping in front of Kate. The girl's head was tilting forward, like that of a rag's doll; her hair was covering her face. Seth stretched a hand, thinking he was a moron…what he was seeing was all a dream, for fuck's sake! Just. A. Damned. Dream._

_Kate's skin was warm, and slick with blood, he slowly tilted her head up and gently moved some locks, damp with sweat and blood, away from her cheeks and brow, only to meet her face, swollen and purple with bruises. _

_He closed his eyes for a second. Why couldn't he wake up? Why although he knew he was dreaming he was feeling rage hot and red, as much as the blood that was beading Kate's face and neck, clouding his sight?_

"_Kate?" He asked in a low voice, as he checked on her neck to make sure she hadn't been bitten and to find a pulse. _

_She was alive. She hadn't been bitten. _

_He smiled but his smile died on his lips when the being hidden in the dark, came out from the shadows showing his face. _

_Seth didn't move, he doubted he could, even if he wanted to, as the being kept showing more and more of itself._

_There were creases on his brow, large osseous bumps that started on its temples and trailed down its jaws. Although it was dark he could clearly see its skin, it was of a nauseating reddish color. _

_Its face was a mask of death and horror with obsidian black eyes. _

_Its body was huge and his breath caught in his throat when he noticed the tribal tattoo almost sparkling on his right shoulder. _

_He…was the creature. He was looking at his vampire self. He…had been whipping Kate. He…had made her scream. _

_Seth blinked once twice. The creature…him, walked toward him and Seth could see its hands: they were longer than normal, covered with reddish lumps, its nails were long and dirty, he noticed the creature was holding a bloody lash in its hands. _

"_Think you can make it, loser?" The creature asked using his own voice. "Do you think you can protect her? From us? From you?"_

_The lash cracked again, this time against Kate stomach and Seth didn't even try to move; he kept still as he finally could feel the edge of the dream starting to blur. _

"_Do you really think that, Seth?" It was Kate's voice now. She was talking to him in a bitter voice._

_He blinked, in his dream, meeting just Kate's face; all around him there was darkness, thick and suffocating. Kate was smiling, while her eyes shed red-blood tears. _

"_I begged you not to leave me, Seth…"_

_Kate cried, while blood was gushing out from her eyes and mouth, while he closed his eyes and he could hear the lash cracking over and over again on Kate's body. _

"_Do you, Seth?" His voice, unnaturally deep asked, again. _

"_Do you, dickless?"_

_Seth blinked his eyes open when he heard his father's voice saying those words. He'd recognize his old man's voice and the venom, the loathing in it everywhere._

"_You'll fuck this up, dickless, you always do!" _ -

Seth woke up panting, his heartbeat was so strong, so frantic that it was almost deafening. He realized he was keeping his closed fists pressed against his thighs, he tilted his hands up and blinked in surprise when looking at his hands he realized he had drawn blood: his palms were dirty with it and his fingertips were stained with blood too.

He took a deep breath as he got up from the bed and tried to free his mind from the images that had haunted his dream.

Dream? What he had just woken from had been a motherfucking nightmare!

He looked around noticing they had stopped and Kate wasn't on the motor home. He washed his hands in the tiny bathroom and then when he exited it, he noticed the blanket on the couch, Kate had probably covered him with it while he was sleeping.

He took a look at the window, they had stopped in front of a service station, from where he was he could see Kate, she was in the store, holding a few bags in her hands, waiting at the cash register.

Although he knew he was being paranoid, he couldn't help looking at the other cars parked, waiting to get gas and then took another look at the store, to make sure there wasn't a robbery taking place. He had done enough robberies to recognize the signs and was relieved when he didn't notice any.

Kate looked like she was lost in thought. She didn't look like the girl she had met two days before, in that moment. She didn't look like the young girl who had entered her motel room wearing just a bikini, six years before. She didn't look like the girl who had valiantly fought alongside with him that night at the Titty Twister.

The look on Kate's face was almost sad, but even from where he was he could see tension never leaving her slender body. Kate wasn't really lost in thought, she wasn't letting her guard down, not even then.

Seth looked away from the girl's face, and looked around in the motor home; he looked at the crosses, there were so many of them, of various sizes and materials. For a moment the images from his nightmare, of the motor home dipped in darkness as Kate was being tortured right in front of him, came to him, blurring his sight; he felt so tired, so overwhelmed…he could feel the nightmare sticking on his skin, in his bones…as much as the events of the past few days.

He wanted to hit something…someone. He wanted to get into the store and kill everything on sight. He wanted his life back…without nightmares, without vampires, without shadows keeping him awake at nights.

He wanted his life back…without girls from his past…without girls he wanted, loved…and needed to protect without having a clue about how to do that.

He shrugged his shoulders, instead, and went to the kitchenette, pouring some coffee in a mug, while he looked again at the store from which Kate was getting out.

That was his life, he thought. He couldn't change his life…anymore than he could grow wings and fly and besides he didn't really want to change it, not if he wanted to keep what was left of his sanity.

It wouldn't have made sense to come back to his life before the Titty Twister…too much had changed since then.

He heard Kate getting closer to the Motor home and took another deep breath, when new flashes of his nightmare came back to him. Even now he could see Kate's face swollen and bruised, he could see the blood staining her face and neck and the angry marks on her creamy skin.

_ Do you think you can protect her? From us? From you?_

"You're awake!" Kate said when she got into the Motor Home.

"I've been for a while," Seth said.

_Do you, Seth? _

"Good. Sun is setting in a couple of hours," Kate said placing the paper bags near the sink and Seth glimpsed the food and the bottles of whiskey inside of them.

"Let's start the big bastard, then…"

_ Do you, dickless?"_

Kate put off her coat and took a sandwich from one of the bags, handing it to him and said, "Fine…once the sun sets we are not going to stop, whatever happens. We're still too close to them."

Seth took the sandwich from Kate's hand and although he was tempted, he didn't linger in touching her. Kate had been very clear on the issue: she didn't want what had almost happened that morning to go on.

_ You'll fuck this up, dickless, you always do!_

He didn't know how he was going to protect her from vampires; he doubted he could really protect her.

_I had asked you not to leave me, Seth…_

Kate nodded her head curtly before going back to the driver's seat and Seth kept looking at her. He might not be able to protect her from vampires, perhaps, but he was going to protect her from himself…from his fuck ups. He could do that. He had to.

Whatever it took.


	10. Chapter 10

_**A/N: thanks to FemmePhantom and Vee017 for your reviews! You rock girls!:)**_

****

_K_ate was exhausted. It wasn't like she wasn't used to being exhausted. She sometimes thought she had spent most of the past six years being dead tired.

She had opened up her bed and she had lied on it, ignoring Seth's look and had closed her eyes.

Sleep was eluding her, though. She knew that her insomnia was partly due to what had happened that morning and to Seth who was now driving, listening to the police radio, just like she had done.

She had been surprised by how cautious a driver Seth was, and even more so by the fact that almost reading his mind Seth had said, "Low profile, Kate…I wouldn't want to get up close and personal with some cop…."

Kate who had just finished changing for the night in the bathroom had stuck her head out of it and had called, "Neither do I…"

She had come out from the bathroom wearing an old pair of baggy pants and Seth's shirt. Seth had looked at her through the rear-view mirror, but the look in his eyes had been blank.

A few seconds later, she had collapsed on the bed and had started pretending to sleep.

But Seth wasn't the only reason for her insomnia: she was afraid to fall asleep. That was the other reason. She was afraid of what dreams might come once she fell asleep.

She was afraid of her nightmares; she didn't want Seth to see them. She had seen Seth having a nightmare that afternoon…she had seen the tension in his body and how his face had hardened. She had seen him closing his hands in fists and press them against his thighs, and had seen the red marks on his palms when she had got back.

She had noticed how quiet he had been. She thought he had probably had one hell of a nightmare to upset him that way.

She feared the good dreams as well as the bad ones, though. She feared the dreams where she was happy. Seth would probably think she was nuts but to her, those were the real nightmares. She could deal with nightmares, even the ones where she killed her family and was killed by vampires; she could even deal with nightmares about the Titty Twister, she had eventually learned how to.

She couldn't deal with the other kind of dreams. She couldn't deal with dreams where she still had a family, where Seth was with her…and she led a normal life…not the freak show they both called life.

She couldn't afford another sleepless night, though. Not if she wanted to be lucid, not if she wanted to be efficient.

"Take a pill, Kate…" Seth suddenly said.

Kate blinked her eyes open, turning her head to look at him. Seth was smiling at her; she could see it even in the half-darkness of the motor home.

"How" She trailed. She was about to ask him how he had known she was just pretending to be asleep, but decided against it. She didn't want to know how Seth could read her so well. She shook her head and said, "I don't take that shit…"

"Whatever you say, sugar…" Seth just said from the driver's seat.

Kate smiled; she couldn't help it, she sat on the bed and hugged her knees against her chest, thinking about how strange it was to have someone in the motor home with her. What would Seth think if he knew he was the only person besides the vampire killers who had built the secret compartments where she hid her weapons, who had been allowed into the motor home, and that he was the only one she had ever allowed to drive it?

He would probably shrug his shoulders, without saying anything about it.

She realized Seth hadn't talked a lot that day…and it was all her fault. When she had told Seth to forget what had happened between them she had hurt him. To think she had always believed nothing could really hurt Seth Gecko.

For a second she'd been able to glimpse fragments of the old Seth in his brown eyes, it had lasted just for a few seconds…only then did she really notice how much had Seth really changed, how much the past six years had somehow mellowed him, had worn his anger out, morphing it in something else…maybe even more dangerous than the fury she had come to know, but it was something darker, more controlled.

There had been fury, yes…for a second, and then something very similar to physical pain had crossed his features. It hadn't lasted long, though…and then Seth Gecko had morphed under her very eyes in another man; a man who hadn't talked a lot, hadn't objected at what she had said, a man who had kept looking around, taking in every detail of the motor home, probably comparing the changes to what he recalled of the vehicle. The only moment where he had resembled the Seth she had known six years before was when they had talked about the flamethrower.

And then he had fallen asleep…and had had the nightmare and Kate had wondered the horror he had relived in it. She hadn't asked any question, of course. She knew he wouldn't answer to that kind of questions, she'd only make him even quieter.

What the hell was going on with him?

"You should rest, Kate…you look like hell" Seth remarked.

Kate shook her head as she felt her smile widen. It was so typical of Seth showing interest in someone by offering derogatory remarks. Hadn't he been like that with her father too?

Kate closed her eyes. It hurt thinking of her family. It still hurt. It was a pain she knew she would never got used to, a pain she knew she'd never learn to live with; the only thing she had learnt to do about it was ignoring it, pretending it didn't exist, although there were moments, like that, where it was too difficult to do.

"Well, 'Jack', you look like hell, too…" She said and was satisfied of how casual she sounded.

She saw Seth smiling at her words, through the rear-view mirror and added, "I know I need the rest…and I know how I look like…I'll sleep eventually, don't sweat it…"

"Fine, princess. But when dawn comes you'll drive the son of a bitch…we need to leave the state as soon as possible" Seth said.

Kate closed her eyes, without bothering to answer to Seth's words. She'd get some sleep; she always did in the end. The discipline she had imposed on herself and that had allowed her to survive always won, it was stronger…even stronger than her fears.

She covered herself with the blankets and opened her eyes, watching Seth driving; she was almost mesmerized by Seth's hands on the wheel. Was it possible that just that morning those same hands had been on her body? Was it possible that those hands had covered her breasts?

And why did she tell Seth to forget what had happened? She didn't want to forget, she didn't know if she could ever forget…even if she wanted to!

_Because it'd be a mistake, babe…the biggest mistake of your life!_

She sighed, while her fingers nervously started to pull at hems of the shirt she was wearing…Seth's shirt.

It would be a mistake. She knew that. Allowing herself to love Seth and go on with what they had almost done in his apartment would be a mistake. She knew that…her mind kept repeating it. Her mind kept listing over and over the reasons why it'd be a mistake to get involved with Seth.

She just had to wait for her heart to catch up with her mind and everything would be okay, she thought.

She just had to stop wanting, craving Seth Gecko…so much that it almost hurt.

She just had to stop loving him…so much that it was taking her breath away.

A diner. It was identical to the hundreds of diners where he had stopped in his life: metal tables covered with colored plastic, slightly uncomfortable chairs and breakfasts served by waitresses bored out of their minds and dressed in awful uniforms.

Yet Seth Gecko was looking around, almost as if he had never seen a diner in his life. He thought that his enthusiasm was probably due to the fact that it was the first time for the past two days that they were spending more than ten minutes outside the Motor Home.

They had driven for two days, without stopping unless it was absolutely necessary and even then they had just stopped for a few minutes. They had driven for two days, taking turns to sleep, so that the issue of sharing a bed had been a moot point. They had lived together in the Motor Home, but they hadn't actually spent a lot of time together, which was fine by him.

He had needed time to think things out. He had needed time to make some decisions, he had needed time to try and sort out the mess his mind had become ever since Kate had come back into his life.

He sipped his coffee, while he waited for Kate to come back from the bathroom. He was surprised by the trust Kate had put in him until that moment. Did she realize that he could have stolen the Motor Home and leave her alone in the middle of nowhere, without money or weapons? Did she think about that?

It looked like she hadn't, at least judging by the fact that he was the one with the key of the motherfucker in the parking lot. To think it had all started because of that motor home.

How things would be different had Richie not killed Gloria, their hostage? Would they have made it to the Titty Twister? Would Richie be still alive? Would he have lost Richie…and himself?

He ran a hand thought his hair, deciding to stop that train of thoughts, he knew it wouldn't do any good…and besides, it couldn't change the actual events…it couldn't change the facts…and he needed to focus on them.

He took the papers Greg had given him from the pocket of his coat and read them…for the umpteenth time.

Contrary to what both Kate and he had initially thought, the vampires weren't actually in Vancouver, but in a little town near it: Meadows Lyne, it had been their vampire killers to contact Greg asking for help.

From what the papers said the vampires, as it often happened, had started by keeping a low profile, opening a couple of bars in the outskirts of town…only to start thinking bigger…they didn't just feed on customers of their bars or hitchers or the usual dumbasses who got in their way. Meadows Lyne's vampires wanted more. They wanted Meadows Lyne…all of it…and it looked like they were succeeding in getting it.

He tilted his head up when he heard Kate's steps approaching their table; he met her eyes, and greeted her with a nod of his head. Kate creased her brow and asked, "Do you have a radar or something?"

Seth sipped coffee from his mug, hiding his smile that way, and saw Kate shaking her head while she sat in front of him and started reading from her menu.

"No…" He eventually said, "It's just habit, sugar…"

Kate almost smiled at his words---almost, but not quite. Seth noticed how tired she looked: there were deep circles under her eyes, she still had bruises on her face, they were purple and yellow now, making her almost look like she was sick. Yet, to Seth, she looked beautiful.

"Take a picture, Jack…it'll last longer…" She said, before sipping her coffee, and the hardness in her voice surprised him. How long had he been staring at her like an idiot?

Despite the hardness in her voice, Kate hadn't used his real name when talking to him and that didn't surprise Seth. Kate Fuller was a fast learner, she was smart…she might want to have nothing to do with him, she might not talk to him, but she wasn't going to betray him.

He flipped her the bird and then smiling said, "I could teach you how…"

Kate looked at him puzzled and said, "Come again? Teach me how to do what?"

"How to have a radar" He just said.

Kate looked at him and in her eyes Seth saw fire…and ice, together. He saw the girl she used to be fighting against the woman she had become because of him. They locked eyes and Seth couldn't help thinking that he couldn't have looked away not even if he'd wanted to.

They didn't talk for long seconds and Seth noticed how time seemed to stretch making seconds become too long, too slow, until Kate looked away and murmured, "No"

Breathe. Seth had to take a long breath, as his hand instinctively went under the table to grip Kate's knee. Kate jumped, but smiled when the waitress came to take their orders.

He knew his grip on Kate's knee was probably becoming painful, he knew that…although Kate was still smiling and he did the same, thinking about the fact that Kate was going to have a new shiny bruise to add to her ever growing collection.

The waitress who, of course, hadn't noticed a thing, filled their mugs with fresh coffee and left bringing with her the menus, a second later he felt Kate's hand on his, under the table, and she said between clenched teeth, "What the fuck is your problem, Jack?"

When he didn't answer she rested her back against the chair, she lightly shook her head smiling and stretched a hand to take her cup of coffee.

"Stop" He hissed, "make a move and I…"

"And you what, Jack?" She asked, still smiling, "You break my knee cap?" she rolled her eyes and took a sip from her mug, she kept looking at him and then still holding the mug in her hand added, "Be my guest…"

Kate kept smiling and there weren't signs on her face that he was hurting her. He was gripping the knee with such strength that he wouldn't be surprised if heard it dislocate from its socket.

"What the fuck is your problem, Kate?" Seth asked, repeating Kate's words.

The waitress came back with their orders, interrupting them. None of them spoke for a second; he was leaning on the table, while Kate was resting her shoulders against the chair, a puzzled look on her face.

"So?" Seth asked.

"What?" Kate asked back.

"Do we want to fuck around here all day?" Seth asked.

Kate ran a hand through her hair and Seth strengthened his grip on Kate's knee, she sighed and said, "One day one of those bastards will kill us…"

Seth shook his head without talking, Kate played with her mug, while her left hand was still under the table covering his, she looked at him and said, "And maybe we won't be swift enough to blow our brains out before becoming like them…"

Time seemed to stop around them, while Seth could see with his mind's eyes the images from his recurring nightmare for the past days: Kate being tortured to death by his vampire self.

"We might fight, Jack. We might have to fight against each other" Kate murmured, "I don't want to know your tricks…and I don't want you to know mine…"

"Fuck, Kate…" He said in a low voice. He shook his shoulders, trying to ignore the tiny curls of panic starting to crawl inside of him.

Kate was right. He had thought along the same lines for the past few days: he'd wondered what would happen if vampires killed him while Kate was still with him. That thought had filled his dreams, so much that he had greeted the previous night's insomnia with open arms.

"Sounds fair…" He eventually said, looking at Kate who was sipping her coffee.

Kate nodded, she put the mug on the table, she leant toward him and still smiling she said, "Cool! Now, would you please take that fucking hand away from my knee?"

Seth nodded curtly and his grip on Kate's knee lessened. He wondered why Kate hadn't reacted. He had seen Kate fighting; he knew how quick her reflexes were…why didn't she move?

He shook his head, and started eating his food, although he couldn't even taste it. Kate's words kept echoing in his mind, just like the calm look on her face as he gripped her knee so strongly that he'd almost dislocated it.

They ate their breakfast in silence and Seth almost expected Kate to ask him for the Motor Home's keys, toss his bags out of it and left him there. That's how he wanted to protect her from himself?

"Jack?" Kate said, breaking his train of thoughts.

"What?" He asked without looking at her.

"Cops" She just said. He looked at her, and Kate pointed with her eyes to something behind him.

Seth didn't turn, he kept eating while Kate said, "Two of them, hands on their holsters, they're looking around."

Seth nodded. It wasn't the first time, ever since he'd been able to get to Canada that he was in the same place with some cops. The trick was to keep his cool, to fly below their radar.

He wasn't aware that his hand was still under the table, over Kate's knee, until she covered it with hers, grazing its back with her thumb…and before he could do anything, Kate leant toward him, she circled his neck with both her arms, and her lips covered his.

The surprise didn't last long and it was soon replaced by fire, the same kind of fire he had experienced a few days before, on his couch, holding Kate in his arms, especially when Kate's lips parted open, and the kiss became something more than a way to try and hide his face, and the arms circling his neck more than a way to conceal the parts of the tattoo that his sweater couldn't hide.

His hands instinctively went up to Kate's face, tracing her cheekbones with his thumbs, as the kiss deepened. He closed his eyes, while a remote part of him, thought that he was kissing a girl in a diner, a barely legal girl, who was half his age, while cops where not far away from him.

He felt Kate lightly scrape his lower lip with her teeth, and his right hand went to the nape of her neck, to further deepen the kiss. That girl was going to drive him crazy, he was sure of that. She would succeed where jail and vampires had failed!

And for a moment he didn't care, especially when he felt Kate responding to the kiss with everything she was.

He could clearly feel his blood leaving his brain and heading south…and then, all of sudden, just like it had started, the kiss ended and Kate moved lightly away from him and he noticed the light swell of her lips and her flushed cheeks, yet her voice was calm while she said, "They're gone…"

Not that he had forgotten about the cops, but he shook his head all the same, trying not to move, cursing the too tight jeans he was wearing.

"Good…" He just said and was satisfied by the apparent calm in his voice.

He was horny…he was furious…and was grateful to Kate. It was the second time she covered for him with cops.

"Jack…is everything alright?" Kate asked after a second.

"Everything's hunky-dory, princess," He said. He took some money from the pocket of his coat and put it on the table saying, "We'd better go and stop to the nearest town…"

"What for?" She asked.

"To patrol, sugar…" He said getting up and buttoning his coat, "What else?"

He smiled at her and exited the diner, and wasn't surprised when a few seconds later he heard Kate walking behind him. He stopped next to the Motor Home and turned to face her. Kate had her hands on her hips and was looking at him, a puzzled look on her face.

Seth leant on the Motor Home, his hands in his coat's pockets, while Kate was still looking at him, her lips still swollen with their kiss, her eyes lit up with the same fire he could still feel burning inside of him.

Kate took a step toward him and Seth noticed she was slightly limping. There was fire in Kate's eyes, but there was fear, as well. She feared him. She feared herself; she feared what was happening between them.

Vampires. Cops. Nightmares and shadows that filled up their nights and their days…it was what their life was made of…and yet it all looked so far away to Seth when he took a step toward Kate and wordlessly held her in his arms.

He felt Kate's arms tentatively circling his waist as she hid her face in the crook of his arm and Seth couldn't help but caressing her hair. They weren't talking…there was silence hanging between them, but it was so different than the one that had been their constant companion for the past few days.

In that parking lot, while the rain started to fall around them, it was all forgotten, it was all forgiven. Without any word spoken.

It was their breaths, their smiles to speak for them.

It was their hearts, which spoke the words.

To say the place they had just stopped in was a town meant insulting every hole Seth had stopped by for the past six years. It was a shit-hole in the middle of nowhere.

The only thing worse than that poor excuse for a town would be a bar in the middle of the Mexican desert, Seth bitterly thought.

It was a dark, rainy night. The rain had started falling down that morning and by the time they had stopped to the nearest town it had become a storm, complete with thunders and freezing cold wind. When they had stopped next to the only, surprisingly huge motel of the town, Kate hadn't commented on the fact that he had spent a few minutes looking at the building and the kind of costumers it had, before deciding to stop there for the night.

The fact that Kate had produced from one of the big bastard's many hidden compartments a fake id hadn't been a surprise. Seth had had time to see money, other fake ids, a wooden cross, which had probably belonged to Jacob and a gun, before she closed the compartment. Kate hadn't been surprised either when he had retrieved from one of his bags a fake id as well.

They were two paranoid vampire killers!

For once, the motel room had been a nice surprise, and even the problem of sharing a bed had been solved, because there were two beds, two quite large beds, divided by a nightstand…just like in a fucking movie right out of the fifties!

The first thing he had done once he had sat on his bed had been opening the nightstand's drawer: he had taken the Bible and had started flicking through it, looking for information.

He had soon found out, once he had started killing vampires that one of the means of communications for vampire killers was the motels' Bibles. One had just to know where and what to look for. He had smiled when he had found the hidden note with the information he had been looking for and had tilted his head up, meeting Kate's smiling face.

Ignoring their previous paranoia they had commented on the vampire killers' methods, although they had both agreed on the fact that notes hidden in the Bibles were better than other means of communications the vampire killers usually chose: notes on the pay phone stalls or public bathrooms.

They had had time to take a quick look around in the town – more than quick, actually, it had been supersonic – find out the vampire killers' headquarter whereabouts, which was the one written on the note, then once they had come back to their room, Kate, on his insistence, had rested for a couple of hours, while he had checked on their weapons and made the stakes for their patrol.

Hours later they were still walking down that shit-hole, in circle, side by side, alerted to every noise, every smell, anything out of the ordinary.

The vampires were there. He knew that…and it had taken just a look at Kate to have his suspicions confirmed. And there was something else…someone was spying on them. Seth didn't know whether Kate had noticed, but he had no doubts about it: he could feel the skin of his back itching and his senses had been on red alert for hours, now.

The question was, though: who the fuck was spying on them? Were they vampires or humans? And if it was the latter…who were they? Vampire killers? Peeper Toms who wanted to get up close and personal with his 44?

Kate was still walking by his side, apparently oblivious of whoever was spying on them; Seth side glanced at her: it looked like sleeping in a real bed had done some good to her. It was either that…or what had happened that morning, the fact that they had been in each other's arms for a long time outside that diner.

And if he had to be honest, what had happened outside that diner had been good for him too. To think he'd never thought he needed that kind of stuff.

Seth Gecko hugging a woman? What a foolish idea!

Seth Gecko who hugged a woman he hadn't even had sex with? Pure science fiction!

Yet it had happened…and things, when they had broken their hug, soaking wet with rain, but smiling like idiots, had become easier.

The rest of the journey to the town had been quiet…but the silence hadn't been heavy, it hadn't been like the fucking elephant that had been between them after Greg's visit. On the contrary, it had been a comfortable silence, and while Kate had driven, he'd even rested for a few minutes, without nightmares.

While he had been making the stakes, that afternoon, he'd even found himself staring at Kate, a couple of times, while she'd been sleeping…and she hadn't had any nightmares as well.

Kate's nightmares hadn't been a surprise. If a son of a bitch like him had nightmares, and they were so ugly that he woke up with his breath caught in his throat and he sometimes draw blood because his nails dug with too much strength into his palms…why shouldn't Kate have them?

Kate hadn't had any nightmares that afternoon, she had soundly slept, she hadn't even moved when he had draped another blanket over her, only to stop and look at her like an idiot for a few seconds.

He had been so close to her, so fucking close that he could have kissed her.

And he didn't even want to start dwelling on why he hadn't kissed her, especially after what had happened that morning. He hadn't wanted to dwell on it that afternoon, and sure as hell he couldn't afford to do that now. Not while on patrol.

He looked around and noticed a movement and noises coming from an alley on his right. He stopped and Kate did the same. Seth noticed she was already gripping a stake in her right hand, she had gotten closer to him, her face was a mask of concentration and resolve.

They didn't need to talk. They slowly approached the alley and Seth noticed that is was scarcely lit; the noises hadn't stopped, they were muffled but their hearing, trained to pay attention to every noise out of the ordinary caught them all the same.

They put some distance between them once they entered the alley. The space between them was enough for them to move, but it allowed them to still watch each other's back. Seth thought for a moment that they hadn't even done that on purpose, they hadn't planned anything…it had been something they had done out of instinct.

The alley smelled bad. It was a thick, sickening smell that was slowly invading Seth nostrils. He had come to hate alleys for the past six years. Nothing good ever came out from alleys.

Monsters came out from alleys.

Death came out from alleys.

He wasn't in a rush, if there was something he had learned the hard way for the past few years was not to rush at anything

They were so quiet that Seth could clearly hear the vampire's satisfied moan, as it sucked its victim dry. He could see them now: the two figures, although half hidden behind a bin filled with trash, were getting clearer and clearer as they approached them.

He looked at Kate and she nodded, getting away from him and moving toward one side of the bin. Seth took another step: the two figures were clearer now: a man and a woman, on the dirty pavement, the woman was astride the man, her lips glued to the man's neck.

From where he was, Seth could clearly see the vampire's hand: her fingers were too long and her nails were like claws and they were digging into the man's shoulders, drawing blood.

Seth hated female vampires. Not that he had any fluffy feelings for male vampires, but women were usually quicker, more agile …and fucking strong.

The vampire seemed to sense his presence, because Seth could clearly hear the smack produced by her lips when they left the man's throat, and a second later she quickly…all too quickly got up and approached him, showing her face which was grossly similar to a bug's except for the lips…human, red-blood lips.

The vampire smiled, showing her fangs, and Seth had to acknowledge they were longer than he'd seen in a very long time. The punch didn't catch him off guard; it was exactly what he'd expected. Female vampires were quick, swift…but not very smart…not that male vampires were usually ready for M.E.N.S.A either.

The vampire had the surprise of her fucking life, instead, when he swiftly, while he was still falling to the ground, took the gun from the waistband of his jeans and shot at her. The bullet hit the vampire's chest, just when he fell to the ground against the wall in front of her.

For a second nothing happened, they stood still: the vampire tilted her head on a side, then she moved toward him, still looking at him in surprise while he was on the floor, staring at her.

Then the vampire's eyes, huge, black, insect-like eyes, which reminded him of his own eyes in his dreams, blinked in surprise and pain and a second later she exploded sending green bits of rotten flesh all over the alley.

Seth blinked: everything had gone according to his plan, it had been a by the book kill…then why did he feel like something had gone wrong?

He shook his head and turned to look at Kate, who was kneeling next to the man's corpse. The feeling he'd just had, of something gone fucking awry went up a notch: Kate wasn't moving, she was looking at the man, almost as if she didn't remember what to do …or didn't know what the fuck she was doing in that alley.

It lasted just for a second – one too much for Seth – then Kate snapped out of it and staked the man, but first she took away his wallet from the inner pocket of his coat.

Everything had gone smoothly…then why did he still feel like there was something wrong…something fucking wrong? Despite those feelings, he couldn't help smiling at Kate's skill. She'd acted like a real pro in taking the wallet away from the fucker who had got himself killed by a vampire.

He was still smiling when Kate, without looking at him, got close to where he was, still looking inside the man's wallet.

They were still spied on; there was still something strange, although everything had gone exactly how he'd envisioned it. Seth couldn't shake that feeling…of something amiss, something out of place away.

Something amiss…besides his ribs, which he'd probably bruised when he had hit the wall…at least judging by the pain he was feeling…and by how hard it suddenly become to breath.

"I'm getting too old for this shit…" He said in a low voice.

Kate knelt in front of him, and Seth was suddenly sure she was avoiding his gaze, even while she said, "He was a cop…"

Great! Just. Fucking. Great! There he was, in a darkened alley, on the pavement, under a pouring rain, still holding a smoking gun he'd used to kill a vampire…a fucking vampire with claws and bug-like eyes…a fucking vampire whose only remains was green stinky goo, while just a few inches away from him, lied a cop's body with a stake in his chest. A cop's body that wasn't bursting into flames, yet.

And he was sitting on his ass, with a couple of bruised ribs.

Wasn't it just peachy?

Not to mention that they were still being spied on, someone had been spying every single step they had taken ever since they had left their motel room.

"Jack?" Kate asked.

Oh, and there was Kate who wasn't meeting his eyes…and had zoned out…like she'd never done…not even when she'd been wet behind her fucking ears, six years before. It had taken a little eternity for her to stake the pig.

Seth shook his head, while gritting his teeth in pain as he slowly got up. Yes, he was indeed getting far too old for that shit!

"Are you okay?" Kate asked.

Seth just shrugged his shoulders, regretting it immediately afterwards and said, "I'm peachy, princess. Just peachy…"

They had to get the hell away from that alley, find the fuckers who were spying on them, and making them bleed…a lot. And he didn't give a fuck which color their blood was going to be: whether it was red or green…he just knew they'd bleed under his hands, then they had to get back to their motel room pack their stuff and leave. He'd been in that poor excuse for a town for a few hours and he already hated it.

He could feel Kate's look on him: she was worried, she was puzzled. Right now she really looked like the kid she actually was. She didn't look like the mean fighter he was traveling with; she didn't resemble the woman who had kissed him breathless that morning in that diner.

She looked like a girl.

A girl, who was still not looking at him.

And it was different than her behavior for the past few days. She hadn't met his eyes and had been cold…now there wasn't coldness…now she was just scared.

Seth sighed. He looked at Kate once again and while they got out from the alley asked, "How ya feeling?"

Kate looked around as she hugged her arms and said, "I'll be fine when we get the hell away from here." She shook her head and added, "I don't' like it…"

Seth just nodded at her words. While they walked to their motel, Seth kept feeling observed…and he didn't like it.

Why didn't they just come out already?

And why was he under the impression, that whoever it was, whoever was spying on them, whether it was humans or vampires …was up to no good?


	11. Chapter 11

Despite Seth's insistence, Kate didn't want to leave. Not when Seth needed to lie down at least for a few hours.

"It's happened before…chill out!" He was saying, sitting on one of the beds.

The motel room had been a nice surprise: first of all it was clean, big, with two large beds divided by a nightstand. The bathroom was large as well. She had even slept that afternoon, without nightmares.

She was now emptying one of her bags on her bed, while Seth kept saying he was fine and that they could get to Motor Home and leave.

Kate wasn't really listening to him, though. Her mind had frozen over the image of the female vampire punching Seth, sending him flying to the other side of the alley. To be honest it had been just a routine patrol, it had been just a vampire…nothing too big. And she'd seen Seth flying because of a vampire's punch…she recalled what had happened at the Titty Twister six years before, and something similar had happened a few days before, when they had killed the vampires in the bar, before that fucking vampire killer forced them to leave town.

There had been nothing different…

And yet she couldn't stop thinking about what had happened.

She didn't want to admit, not even to herself, that what had happened in that alley had scared her. She had feared for Seth…and it hadn't been that hazy feeling she'd felt in the bar they had cleared off from vampires.

Her fears, a few days before, had been lightened by the knowledge that Seth Gecko was a tough bastard.

She had yet to see how his resting moments were haunted by nightmares.

She had still been able to lie to herself and think that what she felt for Seth was something she could deal with…that it was something she could ignore.

She hadn't known how his lips and skin tasted like, she hadn't known how right, how good it felt to be in his arms.

When she had seen him fighting that vampire that night, the fear that something might happen to him had crushed her with its violence…with its intensity.

Staking a cop had been nothing compared to that.

She kept seeing Seth on the pavement, absolutely still, gun in hand and a calm, detached look in his eyes.

"Kate! I'm talking to you!" Seth exclaimed, interrupting her musings.

"Take off your coat" She said and only then did she turn to look at him.

"Did you hear what I've just said? We have to get the hell outta here…and do it now! I don't know what you think about it…but a staked cop is not my idea of keeping a low profile!"

"Oh, you're still thinking about that…" She replied absentmindedly, taking a few gauzes and small, black plastic bag from her bed.

"'That' was a cop!" He said.

"Let the locals deal with it…if he hasn't burn up already…didn't the vampire bit him?"

Seth nodded at her words and then said, "She did, but in this shit-hole? They're gonna notice if one of their cops is missing and when it happens, I'd like not to be here..."

Kate snorted while she let fall the bag and the gauzes on Seth's bed.

"So…" She asked, "Will you do that…or do I have to?"

"Do what? Kate!" Seth said between clenched teeth and then closed his eyes and Kate realized he was really hanging on the last shred of his self-control. She wondered how long he would wait before he dragged her out of there.

Because Seth was right: leaving that motel, getting away from that town was the only reasonable, logic thing to do.

Seth's concerns weren't just about the staked cop…actually, he was more concerned about the fact that they'd been followed, spied on all evening. Seth had told her while they were coming back to the Motel, although he shouldn't have needed…she'd had had the same suspicions.

They should leave…it was the rational thing to do, it was what under normal circumstances she'd probably already done.

Too bad there was anything remotely normal in what she had been feeling for the past day…and hours, ever since she'd been in Seth's arms, that morning.

For the first time in a very long time she had felt protected.

For the first time in a very long time she had felt alive.

She had clearly felt, heard the walls around her heart shatter and crumble down. For the first time in six years the mission, what had prompted to go on, despite the exhaustion, the pain, the nightmares…didn't matter to her. The only thing that really mattered to her was the man sitting on the bed, in front of her.

The man who, just like her, had chosen to turn his back to his old life and welcoming another life made of darkness, pain, blood, stinking alleys and seedy bars…the ones with big neon signs, that often hid monsters' nests.

The man, who was sitting on the bed and was impatiently looking at her, was the most important thing to her. The only thing that really mattered to her.

Seth slowly blinked his eyes open and asked, "What's wrong with you, Kate?"

Kate tilted her head down, refusing to look at him. What was supposed to tell him…that a simple, stupid accident during a patrol had frightened her? Should she tell Seth that for a moment she had forgotten the man's body on the pavement? Should she tell him that panic had taken over…just like that night at the Titty Twister?

"They're all dead because of me…" She whispered and blinked in surprise at her own words.

Seth shook his head; puzzled…he didn't have a clue about what she was talking about. He didn't speak, though, but he slowly started to put off his coat.

"I've thought about it, …" She said after a second. She sat on the bed, next to him, Seth looked at her for a second and then nodded silently inviting her to go on talking while he started taking off his sweater.

"We could have made it …all of us…if Sex Machine hadn't been bitten"

Seth snorted and Kate wasn't sure whether it was due to her words or to the movements he was making to get rid of the sweater.

"It was my first vampire. Bodies surrounded us, blood…you guys were killing so many of them and I couldn't even stake the fucker. I didn't have the guts…he looked so peaceful"

Seth was looking at her, now…and had finally freed himself from the sweater. He was naked from the waist up and Kate moved behind him, to start bandaging his torso. Only then did she notice the huge bruises on his back and shoulders.

_Shit…_

She thought, shaking her head. She sighed and continued, "I've thought back at what happened…and the only thing that makes sense is that he was bitten because of me…because I distracted him. It was my fault…what happened later…is my fault. All of it."

She didn't wait for Seth to speak. She touched his hips with her fingers and then his back and abdomen, without even noticing that he'd started. Without even noticing at the beginning how soft his skin was.

Seth didn't talk while she was touching him, she lightly touched his ribs and she noticed his light shudder.

"They don't seem broken to me, I think you'll just need to take it easy for a few hours" She said, as if nothing happened, as if she hadn't just told him what had been haunting her for the past six years.

As if she hadn't said out loud, for the first time, the truth: that she was responsible for her father and brother's death.

She didn't look at Seth while she reached for the gauze to start bandaging his torso. She didn't have the guts to look at him…not now. She didn't expect him to say anything…she wasn't even sure she wanted to listen to what he might say.

"I'm going to take a shower…" It was the only thing Seth said after a second. He didn't wait for her to talk and Kate just looked at him as he got up and got to the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

Without looking at her.

Without saying a word to her.

She stood still hearing the water from the shower starting to fall. Kate kept looking at that closed door, wishing Seth had said something…anything to her. She was both grateful and furious at the man's silence.

She stood still, kneeling on that bed, holding a roll of gauze in her hands, while her eyes were stinging with unshed tears.

She had really thought she hadn't any tears left, that she didn't even know how to cry, any more.

It was hard, though, fighting back tears, now.

She had forgotten how to cry.

She had forgotten how tears tasted like.

They burned.

They were burning her eyes and her throat.

They were burning what was left of her heart…what was left of her soul.

Who the fuck the man in the mirror was?

He looked like Seth Gecko: he looked like the son of a bitch, the killer, the mean bastard who had bloodied Texas trying to get across the border to Mexico.

It wasn't him, though. It couldn't possibly be Seth Gecko.

Because Seth Gecko hadn't been a coward. Ever. Seth Gecko didn't hide. Not in a motel room's bath room of a town in the middle of nowhere.

The man in the mirror looked tired, pale, there were lines of pain around his eyes.

And he was a coward.

A coward who had chickened out and had gone hiding in a fucking bathroom.

It was official: Kate was frightened.

His Kate was frightened. She'd kept acting weird ever since they had gotten out from that alley, and things had gotten weirder and weirder when they'd come back to their motel room and she'd refused to leave. She'd refused to leave even when it was clear that they weren't safe in that town.

She'd refused to leave, claiming that it was him who needed the rest because he'd been wounded!

Kate was worried about him and she was being completely irrational about it.

If he had to be honest, the vampire had been a mean, strong bitch. The punch had been strong and yes, the pain he was feeling wasn't a walk in the park, but that wasn't the first time he bruised a couple of ribs!

He'd been wounded before; he'd fought in even lesser shape, for fuck's sake!

He was a tough bastard. He was used to take as much as he gave.

And Kate was supposed to know about that. She was the only one who had seen him fighting, she was the only one who knew…and yet in her eyes he'd just read worry and panic…for him.

And her worry, her panic had upset him and that feeling had become something more, something huge and nameless that had started crawling and biting and scraping inside of him when Kate had started talking about the Titty Twister and what had happened that night.

She felt guilty. Kate believed she was responsible for those people's death, for the death of her family.

Kate's words had sounded a fucking lot like a confession.

And he'd been able to hear the pain in them, the remorse, and the fear.

Fear…

Once again for him.

No one had worried for him for such a long time. Seth was used to being feared, he'd spent his adult life scaring people, the more the better for his job. No one, though, had feared for him. Not even Richie. The son of a bitch had loved him…but he hadn't feared for him. He'd always been the big brother to him, more than able to take care of himself.

Seth closed his eyes for a second: he'd rather see the icy look in Kate's eyes, just like it had happened since they'd met again.

He'd rather have Kate reminding him that sooner or later one of them…possibly both of them were going to get killed by vampires, just like she had done that morning.

The girl who had just talked…

What the hell was he supposed to tell her?

He opened his eyes and still he had troubles recognizing the man in the mirror.

Seth Gecko would have shrugged his shoulders at Kate's words, telling her to get a grip, telling her that shit happened.

Seth Gecko wouldn't have given a fuck about Kate's feelings, about her guilt.

The man in the mirror cared.

But he didn't know what to do. He didn't know what to say.

He blinked as he could hear the water in the shower falling, he turned his back at the man in the mirror, and he slowly finished to undress, clenching his jaws when a new wave of pain hit him.

Damn vampires. Fucking goddamned vampires!

He started when he entered the shower stall as the hot water touched his skin; what was he supposed to tell Kate, that it wasn't her fault? What he was supposed to tell her…that she'd just been a frightened kid, taken hostage with her family by two criminals?

Would it make any difference to her?

Kate had killed her own brother; she had seen his body exploding…

And she felt guilty.

What he was supposed to tell her? That it had happened a long time ago and laying blames wouldn't change shit?

Or maybe he should tell her that if she really wanted to lay the blame for her family's death on someone, she should blame him?

What was he supposed to tell her…that she'd still have a father and a brother if he hadn't decided he needed the motor home and its owners? That she would be a regular girl, without fucking lash's marks on her back if he hadn't fucked up her life?

Seth Gecko wouldn't have said that, he wouldn't have even thought along those lines. Seth Gecko didn't believe in guilt, he had only cared about himself, his brother and their money.

He blinked his eyes; he hadn't even realized he hadn't been moving and that he was keeping his hands closed in tight fists against his thighs and that he hadn't even felt the hot water washing over him.

His mind, his heart was elsewhere, running after words he hadn't had the courage to say. Seth Gecko hadn't believed in guilt, once…he'd never known its taste, he'd never known its smell.

A few days before, while he'd tended Kate's wounds, he'd believed what he'd been feeling was remorse. He'd believed he was feeling guilty.

He'd been wrong.

He still recalled how calm he'd felt, despite the light trembling of hands. Guilt hadn't had any taste, then. It hadn't smelled, it hadn't had any texture.

Bullshit…. all of it. Truth was feeling guilty hurt…it hurt like a bitch. Truth was guilt and remorse burned.

They burned like that shower's hot water, like the throbbing pain on his ribs. Guilt and remorse were bitter, just like the fucking lump he could feel in his throat, which was forcing him to keep gulping to breathe.

Guilt and remorse were horrifying, just like the knowledge that suddenly hit him like a ton of bricks that he hadn't really changed, after all. He was still a bastard. He realized he'd been so scared that he'd left Kate, alone.

Alone…when she really needed him, just like it had happened in Mexico.

Alone…with her demons.

Alone…with her sorrow.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: thanks to FemmePhantom and Vee for your words and your encouragement! You rock my world!:)

**Chapter 3**

_-A break-_

_On broken wings I'm falling_

_And it won't be long_

_The skin on me is burning_

_By the fires of the sun_

She had forgotten what it was like to just look at the sky at night. Kate hugged her knees, resting her back against the wall. She was sitting on the stairs of the motel, just a few feet away from the parking lot. It was the only dry place, covered with a canopy of sloping tiles. She was sitting alone, just looking at the rain fall.

There had been a time where she had loved watching the rain fall, she had loved night time, she had even loved storms, not fearing thunders. That had been until her mother had died, killed in a car accident because of the rain. That had been until she had discovered what hid in the darkness. That had been until she'd been left alone, completely alone and had glimpsed the horror revealed by lightings when they lit up the darkest alleys of the towns where she stopped to do her job.

It had been years since the last time she had stopped and had looked, really looked at the night, years since she had enjoyed it, rather than fear and wait for it.

Her eyes were dry. Tears hadn't come. Her eyes had kept stinging, burning, but they had remained dry and the only thing she had been able to do had been getting out from that room, rain notwithstanding.

A part of her had just wished to get into her motor home, start it and go away.

Part of her had just wished she could forget she had met Seth again. Part of her had wished she could just forget that for a few days she had felt alive…in love.

Normal.

It was useless to bullshit around the issue: Seth Gecko had ruined her life, six years before and yet she had fallen for him.

She had fallen for the killer who had aimed a gun at her the first time they had met. She had fallen for the black dressed man who had reappeared into her life, saving her, just a few days before.

Truth was that although she had been so lonely for such long time she had quickly…all too quickly gotten used not to being alone any more.

And she had forgotten how she had survived ever since she had been left alone in Mexico.

The fact that she was sitting on the stairs of a motel, looking at the rain falling down was a proof of it.

The fact that she had been frightened for Seth in that alley was another proof.

That night had proved her wrong…big time.

"Kate!"

She clearly heard Seth's voice; he almost sounded…worried. For her.

She sighed, tightening her coat around her slender frame.

She wasn't angry at Seth. She hadn't said those things expecting him to say something. She didn't even know why she had talked.

It had happened…and it had been natural.

Just like it had become natural to her, the fact that Seth's face was the first…the only one she saw when she woke up.

Just like it had been natural closing her eyes while she had been in his arms that morning, and feeling safe, protected, loved.

"Kate! Answer me!" Seth's voice was louder now, as he called her name.

What had happened in that alley was dangerous…fucking dangerous. She couldn't afford such a weakness, not if she wanted to go on with that kind of life. And that was the only life she knew by now. She barely recalled what her life had been like before the Titty Twister.

And if she had to be honest, she had troubles recalling the last six years of her life, now. It was almost as if she had sleepwalked through them. Where had she been ten days before? What had she done? She didn't remember.

It was almost as if her life had started over again when she had opened her eyes in Seth's bedroom. Everything from that moment on, was clear, each moment, each smell, each color…each feeling.

It was all vivid. It was all crystal clear.

And she couldn't afford that. It was too much of a luxury for her.

Truth was she had to give up on Seth. She had to.

"Kate, dammit!"

_Seth, don't leave me…_

She blinked and tried to shake away those thoughts and that little voice which had whispered those words straight to her heart.

"I'm here!" She loudly said, ignoring the angry voices coming from some of the rooms.

She didn't turn when she heard Seth's steps approaching her. She closed her eyes for a second. No. Although everything in her was screaming that she had to give up on Seth, that she had to give up on what she felt for him…she wasn't ready to make him go away, she couldn't even thinking about not having him into her life.

She wasn't ready to be alone, again.

But she couldn't let what had happened that night in the motel room to happen again. She couldn't afford to let her feelings get in the way.

Because she was sure Seth would leave her one way or another.

Because Seth was a bastard…

And because although he was a bastard…he wasn't a fucking bastard. Hadn't he used those words when he had left her the first time?

She didn't move when Seth stopped behind her, and she forced herself not to close her eyes…

Why his mere presence, why the fact that he was next to her, in that moment, brought her back to that morning to what she had felt in the diner's parking lot?

It made her feel safe.

It made her feel protected.

It made her fall in love, all over again.

A thief, a killer, a bastard...was the only person who could make her feel that way...Kate thought that she'd have probably laughed at the idea, once. When she still didn't know Seth.

"It's still raining" Seth said, sitting next to her on the stairs.

Kate just shrugged; she didn't look at Seth but moved away, giving him space to better sit next to her.

"I've been looking for you" He said after a moment of silence.

"I needed to get out…" She answered.

Only then did she turn to look at him: Seth looked like had been a while under hot water, and she could see how the lines around his mouth had become more pronounced. She wasn't surprised in realizing that without even wanting it, she had learned to read him quite well, in just a few days.

She could read his body and how it revealed what was going on inside his mind. She could read him like an open book, and she couldn't help wondering whether it was the same for him.

What could he see on her face in that moment? Could he see how desperately she needed him? And how desperately it frightened her?

Seth hadn't answered to her words, he had just nodded and tilted his head up looking at the sky.

"I thought you had decided to leave" He said without looking at her.

"Nah…" She commented, "And leaving you in this flophouse? I'm a bitch…but not that much, Jack…"

Seth looked at her and a half smile crept on his lips. Yes, she decided, she was an open book to him as well.

"Thought you wanted to stitch me up" He added, chancing subject. He was still smiling, but it was a strange one, different than the smiles he had seen on his face for the past few days.

She had seen him smile a real smile, once. It had happened six years before, when he had felt like a free man, once they had crossed the border, and it had been a smile which had come back to haunt her dreams, forcing her to wake up…to try and get away from those images.

"And I thought you didn't want to" She said, and she wasn't even aware that she was smiling as well.

Seth lightly shrugged his shoulders, Kate ran a hand through her hair and nodded. She tried to get up, but Seth stopped her by placing a hand on her knee, the same knee he had gripped that morning, to make her talk.

Kate just looked at him, Seth averted his gaze, he almost looked embarrassed when he said, "Wait…it's been a fucking long time, since I enjoyed the night…"

That…that man couldn't be Seth!

He couldn't be the killer, the robber, the kidnapper, the vampire killer she knew!

"Se…" She started, then gritted her teeth and said, "Jack…if…"

"Shut up, Kate…" Seth said. He smiled again and it was a real smile, one that reached his eyes.

And his hand was still standing on her knee.

How could it be that just a few minutes before she had promised to herself not to allow her feelings to Seth to get in the way with her life and in that very moment, instead, she was ready to follow him everywhere…to the hell if necessary?

Yet…

Yet Seth didn't want to bring her to hell…

Not that time.

Not that night.

Seth just wanted to stay outside and look at the night, enjoy the night. With her…for her, probably.

"What if they see us?" She asked.

Seth snorted. "They sure know where we are. They know how we look like and what we do, staying here won't change shit…"

Kate just nodded at his words, she was dimly aware of the fact that Seth's hand was still on her knee and that – and she wouldn't say when it had happened, exactly- the space between them on the stairs had further shortened…and even if Seth had noticed those things he didn't attempt to move away from her.

And she didn't have the strength to move away from him, either...not in that moment. She didn't have the strength to pretend, to hide…she could just be herself, she just had the strength to be Kate Fuller.

So she didn't talk, she tilted her head up and watched the rain fall, feeling Seth's look on her.

She wasn't sure how long they stayed there, feeling the colors, the smells of that rainy night, forgetting, for once, the dangers hidden in it.

Later on, she recalled how neither of them moved at the beginning and how, eventually, Seth did: he drooped an arm around her shoulders and held her at him, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Just like it had happened that morning…and just like then, she closed her eyes, cradled by Seth's arms.

Just like that morning, she felt safe.

Just like that morning, she felt protected.

Just like that morning, she felt in love.

She had been wrong. She was following Seth to hell. Again.

And she didn't care.

His father would call him a pussy.

Richie…well, Richie would do the same thing…more or less.

He was sitting on a motel's stone step, with a girl…a woman he wanted.

A girl…a woman he had fallen in love with…and the only thing he could do…the only thing he had managed to do, had been drooping an arm around her shoulders!

How come he always ended up acting like a fucking boy scout with Kate Fuller? Why did he act like a fucking boy-scout on an emotional roller coaster?

When he had finally found the guts to get out from the bathroom he had found the room empty and for an instant he had believed Kate had left.

Not that he wouldn't understand if she had left. He'd have followed her…he'd have found her, but he'd understood why she had left.

It hadn't happened. Kate hadn't left him. Not physically at least. He had found her almost right away. He had seen her sitting on a step, looking lost and for the first time since their paths had crossed, she had looked vulnerable.

And afraid.

She had been afraid of him, that time.

He had called her aloud, because he hadn't known what else to do.

She'd been so lost in thought that she hadn't even realized that he'd been spying on her. He had gotten close to her and all his plans to apologize to her had vanished when their eyes had met.

Kate Fuller was a vampire killer. She was damn good at what she did. He had seen her fighting for hours, and she never let her guard down. Even for the past few days, while they were in the Motor Home, Kate had never let her guard down. Ever.

That night, instead, she had repeatedly done that…because of him. For him.

It had been then, he had decided it wasn't apologies what Kate needed. If he had to be honest, he wasn't sure he knew what, exactly, Kate needed. What was happening between Kate and he – whatever it was – was new to him; so all he had been able to do was sitting next to her…letting her watching the sky and the rain falling down.

The only thing he had been able to do, despite he felt like going crazy with how much he wanted her, had been drooping an arm around her shoulders, like a fucking boy scout, like the person he had never been, the person he had believed he could never be.

Kate had her eyes closed, now. Seth, though, knew she wasn't sleeping, just like he knew that she wasn't afraid, not in that moment. He lightly moved and she immediately did the same, jerking her head up to look at him.

There wasn't fear in Kate's eyes, not of him…or for him. And for the first time since they had met each other again, he couldn't read the look in her eyes.

"Want to come back to our room?" She asked.

Seth shrugged his shoulders, causing a new wave of pain from his ribs. Kate had to notice that, because, she took his hand and stood up, forcing him to do the same before saying, "Come with me, Jack…"

"Kate…" He started.

Kate smiled, she was still holding his hand when she got closer to him, so much that she whispered in his ear, "Shut up, Seth…"

Kate's voice had been a throaty whisper while she had uttered those words…and its tone…well, that was unmistakable. It was a tone of voice that was setting his blood, his skin on fire. He didn't move, though. It was Kate who imperceptibly moved, grazing his jaw with her lips.

Did that girl know what she was doing? Did she, really? Did she know what she was doing to him? Did she know she was playing with fire?

He didn't have to move. He couldn't.

They were too close. Too. Fucking. Close.

If he moved in that moment, he'd kiss her. And he knew, with absolute certainty that they wouldn't stop. Not that time…not that night.

If he moved, they'd give the motherfuckers who had been spying on them for hours, a real show to watch.

"Kate" He just said, and his voice was as low as hers. Kate didn't answer him, she just took a step back and Seth noticed when he looked at her, that there wasn't ice any more in Kate's hazel eyes.

The only thing he could see in her eyes was desire.

Fire.

Kate wasn't playing with fire, he realized as they wordlessly started walking toward their room.

Kate Fuller was fire.

She was going crazy.

Her heart was going crazy.

Her body was going crazier and crazier with every passing minute.

Kate had had men before that night. She had though she knew what desire was like before that night. Truth was that what had felt with those men, had been nothing compared to what she was feeling now, nothing compared to the fire, the liquid fire that was slowly consuming her.

She was going crazy…it was the wait…the seconds that were stretching into liquid eternities, while even walking to their room was exciting.

She couldn't even hear the rain falling down all around them, all she was aware of was their breaths, their steps, the feeling of their shoulders touching as they walked, together, to their room.

She was going crazy.

There was no past that night. No discipline, no self-control, no sorrow. It was almost as if it had faded, vanished.

Kate Fuller craved.

She craved the man who was walking next to her.

She wanted to know how his skin tasted like, she craved his lips, she needed to feel breathless for having been kissed by Seth.

She craved his body, she needed to feel their bodies moving together, as one, and wanted to look at him, as it happened.

They stopped in front of their room and only then did Kate realize she hadn't let go of Seth's hand, but…they had entwined fingers, Seth too looked like he had just realized that. He let go of her hand and Kate read surprise for a second in his eyes, then he tilted his head down, and stifled his hands in the pockets of his coat to take the keys.

Kate held her breath as they got into their room and Seth softly closed the door behind them.

It was everything as they had left it…it was everything as it had been when she had talked, when she had been afraid.

They were closer to each other, now. Their shoulders were still touching, and yet, for a second nothing happened. They both stayed still, the only sounds in the room were their breaths and the soft tickling of the rain against the window.

Kate felt Seth's look on her, and then, a second later, he closed the distance between them by putting an arm around her waist, bringing her even closer to him.

It only took that movement, to make him grit his teeth in pain. It only took that movement and they both recalled why they were still in that motel room and not on the motor home, far away from that town.

"Damn…" Seth hissed.

Yet, he didn't let go of her. His arm was still circling her waist, he was still holding her, and it didn't look like he wanted to let her go anytime soon.

Kate closed her eyes for a second: she could still feel that liquid fire burning inside of her, it was still consuming her, throbbing in her belly, flowing into her veins.

Yet, her voice was calm when she said, "Seth…"

She opened her eyes and looked at Seth, as he tilted his head down to meet her eyes. Neither of them talked. They didn't need to. The man blinked and then let go of her, before muttering, "Motherfucking vampires"

Incredibly enough, though, he was smiling as he took some steps and sat on his bed before slipping out of his coat.

And she was smiling too.

She didn't even know why she was smiling…or why Seth was…yet she couldn't help it. It was natural to her.

She walked to the bed, and just like she had done before, she sat on it and moved behind Seth.

Seth's voice was low and husky when he talked, although in a very different manner than a few minutes before, when he had said her name, outside their room.

"You were just a kid, Kate," He said, "and you were frightened. Fuck…I was scared…we all were!"

Seth started to slid off of his thick, black sweater, and Kate who was having trouble swallowing past the sudden lump in her throat, got closer to him and helped him out of it. She held the sweater in her hands as Seth said, "And besides that wasn't your first vampire…"

Seth turned his head to look at her and Kate noticed the look in his eyes: he almost looked like…

Was it possible that he was proud of her? Because she could clearly read pride in his eyes and hear it in his voice when he said, "The fucker at the entrance…did you forget about him?"

Kate tilted her head down, while she put Seth's sweater next to her, and blinked when she recalled how frightened she had been in that moment. She recalled how everyone in the bar, was busy fighting vampires…and how she had been alone, for the first time, against one of them.

"My cross…" It was the only thing she said. She recalled how she had acted out of instinct and had stuffed the little golden cross, into the vampire's mouth.

Oblivious of Seth's look on her, her hand went to her neck. She didn't wear any jewelry, nothing except for the thin golden necklace, she had worn that night.

"You were just a kid…" Seth repeated.

Kate shook her head, taking the gauze from the bed. She grazed Seth's back first and then his abdomen. She didn't think there was anything broken, and was sure they'd notice if there had been an internal hemorrhage, yet it hadn't been a walk in the park for him, if he was hurting.

"It doesn't change what happened, Seth," She eventually said. Seth didn't answer but Kate noticed how he closed his eyes. She started bandaging his torso trying not to hurt him in the process.

Neither of them spoke, their previous words were still hovering over them in the room. How was it possible that just a few minutes before she had felt like going crazy with desire, she had been sure that nothing and no one could stop them that night, she had been sure that the past six years had stopped mattering and right now, she couldn't even breathe?

How was it possible that they had been both smiling, without any apparent reason, except for the fact that they were together, while right now she was, once again, fighting not to cry?

To think she had been sure she had run out of tears!

She startled when Seth blocked by grabbing her wrist. He still wasn't talking and Kate was grateful. He didn't move, didn't talk while she, without even noticing, further shortened the distance between them and circled his shoulders with an arm, before she rested her forehead against the nape of his neck.

Later on, she thought about that night, and about that silent hug and how it had looked like it had gone on for hours.

There were just the two of them…and what they felt: the feelings that were binding them, the feelings that had become almost impossible to ignore for both of them.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: **the part in Italics is a dream. Thanks to Vee017 and FemmePhantom for their terrific reviews. You both rock girls!:)

* * *

**  
**

**O**n skinned knees I'm bleeding

And it won't be long.

I got to find that meaning and I'll search

For so long.

* * *

_T__hey were roaring._

_Demons, vampires. They were roaring.__ They looked like giant anthropomorphic bats._

_They were crazy…they were craving for their bloods. _

_Blood….she could feel it on her skin, it was flowing in long thick trails on her face, like tears. _

_The tears…the ones she wanted and couldn't, wouldn't shed…not if she wanted to get out of there alive. _

_Kate was afraid; and the fear was like a solid, real creature inside of her. Fear was as real as the monsters that were around Seth and she, now. _

_Solid. _

_Fear was solid, almost like Seth's back and shoulders, pressed against her body. _

_They had to fight or they'd become like them. _

_They had to fight or they'd become monsters, godless pieces of shit just like those who had destroyed their families. _

_They were roaring as Seth was holding her at him, gripping an empty gun, aiming it at those monsters almost as if it had been a cross. _

_Seth was fighting…even now, while they were seeking refuge under that weak beam of light and he was shouting at her to shoot the holes. _

_Sunlight._

_If there was the sun, if there was the light…why they weren't safe, already?_

_The vampires were roaring…and they were hungry. _

_They were hungry for them, they were craving their flesh, their blood, their very souls. _

_She had a gun too and, just like Seth she gripped it, aiming it against those monsters. _

_How many of them, still?_

_How long would they last?_

"_Katie!"_

_The brunette stopped, turning her head, looking for who had called her name. _

_Who was calling her name?_

_She knew that voice. Her heart knew it…recognized it…._

"_Kate?" It was Seth's voice. It was Seth calling her name. _

_She knew Seth's voice: her heart recognized it. Seth's voice was low, now. Throaty. _

"_Katie?!"_

_The other voice. She knew the other voice…a male voice. He was calling her name, he was barking her name…he made it sound dirty, with blood and tears and shame. _

"_Fuller, dammit!" It was Seth, now. He was shouting her name. Calling for her. _

_Her Seth. _

_He was calling her name. She had to turn to Seth. She had to look at Seth. _

"_Katie!" _

_Kate closed her eyes. She knew the other voice: it was darkness. It was blood. _

_It was pain. _

_And cries. _

_Seth was crying out, now. Kate opened her eyes, shivering as she looked around. _

_Why was she alone, now? _

_Her back had been against Seth's …and it had been real, it had been true as much as the vampires' roars. It had been truer than fear. Truer than the blood that was trailing down on her face. _

_Why had she gotten away from him? And while she was at it…what the fuck was she doing on the Titty Twister's tables?_

"_Seth!" It was the only thing she said. _

_He was still fighting, he moved quickly and as he did that, his long black coat moved with him, almost like a cape…almost as if he was the hero of a fucking novel._

_Seth kept hitting vampires, kept killing them as she leapt and ran to him, oblivious of the vampires, oblivious of the voice…the other one. It was calling her._

_He was still calling her. _

"_Seth" She whispered, as she got close to him._

_Blood._

_Seth was…blood._

_There was blood pouring out from his neck, where he had been bitten. _

_Unable to believe in what she was seeing, she shortened the distance between them. Her heart…did she really believe it had shattered when his brother had died?_

_She startled, when Seth grabbed her arm, only to move her behind him, under that beam of light. _

_Away from him.._

"_Did they bit you?" She asked. _

_That couldn't be happening. Not to him, not to Seth!_

_He turned his head and looked at her, it only lastexd a second and then he nodded without talking, answering that way her silent question. _

"_Oh, no…no" Her voice…her voice was scratching her throat as she said those words, and her skin became numb, so much that she almost didn't realize that her grip on the gun was weakening. _

"_Not now, Kate!" Seth exclaimed, shattering her numbness with his sharp voice._

_Even now, he was still fighting, pushing away vampires with his hands, pushing them away from him…and her. _

"_Katie? I did it for you! Don't you like my gift?"_

_It was that voice, again: he was taunting her, haunting her…killing her soul. _

_That voice came from darkness…it was darkness and was full of a sick mirth. _

_He was enjoying his gift to her as her heart was shattering…yet, despite everything, Seth kept fighting._

_He was fighting as his blood flowed, oozed from his neck. _

_She knew that voice…her skin was screaming with loathing for it. _

_That voice was burning her soul. _

_That voice was blood. _

_Kate blinked, blocking those thoughts, and looked at Seth. She had to think about Seth…he was the one that mattered, now. _

"_How long?" She asked. _

_Seth stopped and for some strange reason even the vampires around them did the same. _

_They were waiting, she could read it in their red eyes, on their bat-like faces. They were waiting for Seth's answer. They were enjoying the show…feeding on the heart-ache they could probably feel in the room. _

"_Seth?" She said. _

_He refused to look at her turning his head…so that the only thing she could really see was the wound on his neck…and his blood. _

_His blood was flowing, it was creating blood-red flames that were mingling with the black ones of his tattoo. _

_Seth tilted his head down and said in low voice, "I don't know, Kate…"_

"_No!" She cried dropping the gun. She wanted to erase Seth's words. Her hands went on her face, first and then on her ears, scratching them with her nails, almost as if it could be possible to scratch Seth's words…and the tone of his voice as he had said those words. _

"_No…no…no!" __She screamed, over and over. _

_And the vampires around them, screamed…with her. _

_They laughed at her. _

_They roared. _

_Suddenly, Seth's hands grabbed her by her wrists, taking her away from that weak light, forcing her to stop scratching her face. _

_Kate looked at him: he was calm, he was keeping his shit together…even now. _

"_Not. Now. Kate!" He hissed between clenched teeth. Kate nodded. _

_Vampires…there were vampires to fight…and kill. She looked around and couldn't help frowning: the vampires had disappeared, vanished into thin air. _

_All of them…except one. _

_Seth. _

"_Why aren't you screaming now, Katie? You have to, it's time!"_

_It was that voice, again. _

_It was the voice of heart-ache. It came from the shadows. _

_It was the voice of her nightmares. _

_Kate was having a dream. _

_She recalled now. She knew, now. _

_She had been at the Titty Twister. Seth had been there, with her…and vampires had roared. But there hadn't been voices. _

_Just fear. _

_They had gotten out of there, alive. _

_It was a dream. It was a nightmare. _

_Then why couldn't she wake up from it? Why was her heart hammering in her chest, ready to explode for the sorrow she was feeling? _

"_Oh, God…no, please, no!" She whispered. _

_Seth shook his head. "I don't know how long do we have…"_

_Kate wanted to scream at him that it was a dream, that what they were living wasn't real…that she would soon wake up and he'd be alive. _

_But she couldn't. She kept looking at Seth as he knelt and took the gun from the floor. _

_His movements were slow, excruciatingly so. _

"_What I know is that I don't wanna become as one of those fucks…" He continued as he got up. _

_He was looking at her, now…and it was the man she had met again just a few days before: paler, with more lines around his eyes and mouth, and more grey on his temples… but it was him. _

_Her Seth. _

_In her dream, Kate closed her eyes when Seth put the gun in her hand. _

"_Please…" They both whispered, and Kate, in her dream, opened her eyes…and felt the gun's weight in her hand. _

_And she was surprised realizing that it burned. _

"_No" She shook her head, getting close to him. She wanted to shake him, she irrationally hoped that she could wake herself up that way. _

_Seth took a step back. Almost as if she was the dangerous one. Almost as if she was the one that was muting…the one rotting from the inside. _

"_It's what it needs to be done, you know that!" He said. _

_And the blood, his blood, kept mercilessly flowing, damping his skin . _

"_You can't" She starterd but stopped, blinking back tears. _

_ You can't ask me to do this… She wanted to tell him, but she didn't have time to, because Seth interrupted her by saying, "I have to! We both do…don't you get it?"_

"_No! It's you that don't understand" She screamed. She moved toward him and Seth didn't attempt to move away from her, that time. She closed the distance between them and in a second she was in his arms, saying in a low voice, "I love you, Seth…I can't do that!"_

_She tilted her head up and watched as he closed his eyes, and a second later she felt his fingers in her hair. _

_In her dream, she closed her eyes, nestling her head against Seth's shoulder. _

_In her dream, Seth's heartbeat was weakening. _

_In her dream, Seth was losing his battle against the demon inside of him. _

_When he tilted her head up by her hair, forcing her to look at him, she didn't feel pain. She was just surprised…and the surprised turned into something bitter and burning in her heart when he he hissed against her lips, "If you do, then pull the fucking trigger!"_

_She shook her head no and she lost herself in his eyes. _

_Even in her dream, Seth's eyes were dark, were magnetic. _

_She clutched the gun against her chest and Seth pushed her away from him. Kate fell on the floor, while Seth got to the door and started banging on it with all his might. _

_She slowly got up, she hadn't taken but a step when Seth stopped her saying, "Stay away from me, Kate! I'm dead! I'm one of them, now!"_

"_No!" She cried. _

_They were breaking her heart. They had bit him…but it was her who was having her heart broken, shattered. _

"_Seth, listen to me!" She started. _

"_Pull that trigger, Kate!" He said, without looking at her and she felt her heart shattering some more, when she noticed how low Seth's voice was, now. How guttural _

_No. _

_She didn't want to see him dying. _

_She didn't want to kill him. _

_She didn't want to see what was going to happen to him. _

_Yet, although she was trying, she couldn't wake up. She was trapped into that nightmare and its walls were getting tougher and tougher instead of fading with the knowledge that she was dreaming. _

_The walls of her dream were solid…and were making it all more vivid and painful. _

_She dropped the gun and walked toward the man. Seth had gotten away from the door. _

"_Go away, Kate…go home!" He said with his back turned to her. He was panting with the effort it was taking for him to talk. He was panting with anger and sorrow. _

_Kate could feel it, hear it…she could see it. She could see Seth's shoulders starting to curve for the effort to keep fighting the demon that was invading his body. _

_Ever the fighter, her Seth. Always the fighter…even now. _

"_No" She just said, walking toward him. She wanted to run to him, hold him, before it was too late…but her legs refused to cooperate. _

_Seth started when eventually she was close to him, again, behind him and touched his shoulder. He slowly turned toward her and Kate saw how much of the effort to keep the monster away, not to let him win was showing on Seth's face. Underneath it all Kate could see the heartache…and the tiredesness. _

"_Go away…" Seth said, and there was something akin pure fear in his voice, now. "I don't know how long I can…" He stopped and shook his head when she, ignoring his words, circled his shoulders with an arm, from behind and hid her face between his shoulder blades. _

"_Go home, Kate" He softly said, taking her hands in his. _

_Home? Where was home? Was it home a motel room? Was it home a Motor Home with countless crosses on its walls? Where was home?_

_Where was home…if he couldn't be with her? _

"_I am home, Seth…" She whispered against his shoulders. And her throat burned. Her heart burned. _

_Seth didn't answer her, he let go of her hands and took a step away from her. He turned and looked at her, and for a second his was the face of the man she had met for the first time. There weren't signs of pain, heart-ache. Even his smile was the same of the man who had once crossed the border to Mexico…feeling invincible. _

_It only lasted a moment…and then he moved. He was quick…too much both for a human and a vampire and in a second he was at the centre of the room, away from her. "_

"_Go home!" He repeated, "They've come for you!"_

"_I'm looking for my friend Seth!"_

_Carlos! It was Carlos shouting beyond the closed door! It was the voice of the son of a bitch who had told Seth to go to the Titty Twister!_

_Seth looked at her, he was still smiling at her. The smile didn't leave his face even while he shouted, "Tell your friends to shoot the door, Carlos!"_

"_Seth…" She murmured, but she didn't hear his answer, it was smothered by the noises of the door going down. _

"_Now, Kate!" He screamed when the doors opened. And Kate didn't know whether he was referring to the demon taking over him or to her chance to escape. _

_Light. _

_She hated that light. _

_It was taking her away from Seth. _

_It was taking away Seth . _

_Seth…whose eyes were now unnaturally green. _

_Seth, who kept still while the Titty Twister was filled with light. _

_Seth…who was now roaring. _

"_Kate!" He shouted. _

_Arms. Arms warm with sun, took her by her waist, while sunlight hit every surface of the Titty Twister. _

_She struggled, breaking free from the arms holding her and ran to Seth shouting, "Who did it?"_

_Light…_

_It was quickly burning the gossamer veil separating her from the reality. _

_It was a dream, yet she ran to him and repeated, "Who did it?"_

_Seth took a step toward her, his flesh was now swollen with blood…with evilness. _

_Sunlight hit him and Kate screamed. _

_The scream caught in her throat as she woke up, together with Seth's final words. The words of the man she loved. The words of the man who loved her back in her dreams. He had fought until the bitter end to let her live._

_Seth's words just before exploding shattered the last remains of her dream and her heart. _

"_You" He said. "You killed me, Kate!" _

* * *

_I_t was Seth.

And he was alive.

And he was shaking her by her shoulders.

Kate Fuller was fully awake. She had been torn from her nightmare with such strength that her last scream was still burning in her throat and heart.

It was burning …and so were Seth's last words and the terrible image of his body exploding.

It had been a dream…and although she had known about it, it had hurt…it had fucking broken her heart.

"Kate?" Seth's voice sounded worried…and confused.

Seth.

Seth was alive!

Seth was right next to her, on the bed.

She vaguely recalled him popping a cushion behind his shoulders and turning on the tv, sound off, while she was falling asleep.

It had been natural.

So natural that she'd had a smile on her lips as she closed her eyes.

She didn't feel like smiling, right now. Seth's hands were still on her shoulders…and they were warm and she was sure that is she had rested her hand on his chest she'd have felt his heart beating strong and steady under her palm.

Seth was calling her name, now.

If she had looked at him, she'd have noticed worry clearly etched on his face.

But she couldn't look at him, she couldn't stretch a hand and make sure his heart was beating.

Seth was alive…next to her.

He was real…just like her heartbeats…gone crazy with the fear she could still taste in her mouth.

Breathe.

Kate had to breathe!

Everything would be okay if she starter breathing again!

Everything would be okay if her eyes stopped stinging with unshed tears!

"Kate!"

_"Katie?!"_

She started, freeing herself from Seth's hold on her shoulders with an angry shake of her shoulders; for a moment it had been other hands on her shoulders…and she had recoiled at the contact…

For a second, the shadow, which sometimes talked to her during her nightmares, the shadow she had just dreamed of, had been in that room.

For a moment…the shadow had become Seth.

"I'm fine…" She murmured, without looking at him, just like, without looking at him she got up from the bed…putting distance between them.

She had to go away.

She had to go away from that room, she had to go away from Seth.

She had to go away from her delusions. She had thought she could be someone else…

She had to go away from what she had almost had…even for a few days.

Happiness…warmth.

If she did, if she went away maybe she would start breathing again…or she would stop altogether. She didn't care which.

Not in that moment, not while with her mind's eyes she could still see the man she loved exploding before her very eyes, after telling her it had been her.

After he told her she had been the one who had killed him.


	14. Chapter 14

_**A/N: **_thanks to Vee for her wonderful review..:)

**09/30/2007: **_I revised the chapter, after I noticed a few mistakes. Thanks Vee!:)_

* * *

_E_nough! 

He had tried.

He had tried to be the reasonable one. He had tried to understand. He had tried and tried more than he had ever done in his life.

He had scratched the end of the barrel and then some….he had gone against his very nature.

Now he had enough!

Enough with that fucking emotional roller coaster! Enough with Kate trying to get away! Enough with those fucking icy walls behind which Kate sought refuge.

He had tried. He honestly had.

As per usual he had failed!

Seth Gecko slowly got up from the bed, the pain on his ribs forgotten. Or, maybe, the fury he was feeling had erased anything else.

What a shitty way to wake up! To say that before falling asleep he had thought things with Kate were becoming finally simpler!

He had liked it that she had fallen asleep on his bed.

He had liked it that she had been smiling while she closed her eyes.

And he had been correct to her that night.

He had been a fucking boy scout…even when she had moved in her sleep and had ended up in his arms.

He hadn't taken advantage of that. Not that he hadn't been tempted, though.

Not that he hadn't given it a thought…but then she had started moaning in her sleep…and his plans to stop being a gentleman, wake Kate up and finish what they had almost begun had gone to hell.

Kate had started moving in her sleep, trying to break free from invisible enemies and had begun scratching her face with her nails.

Then she had screamed.

That's when he had shaken her by her shoulders and had woken her up…only to see her freaking out some more.

And Seth had had enough!

Kate was hiding in the bathroom now, there was just a door between them.

As if a closed door had ever stopped Seth Gecko! Without even bothering to put on a shirt, wearing only the jeans he had fallen asleep into the previous night, Seth stopped in front of the door, his arms on either side of it.

He took a deep breath. He was tired, very tired of playing St. Seth. He was a bastard, he was a son of a bitch and it was time for Kate to remember that.

It took a kick, only one kick to open the door.

He immediately saw her: she was resting her hips against the sink, and while he'd been busy finding the balls…his balls, lost somewhere for the past few days, before he decided to kick that door open, Kate had undressed, she was trembling wearing only her bra and panties, while water was running in the shower.

Although the room was hot and humid with the steam coming out from the shower, Kate was shivering.

And Seth couldn't care less.

"What the fuck is going on?" He asked, resting his hands on his hips.

The only answer Kate gave him was crossing her arms over her chest, refusing not only to speak but to look at him as well.

She didn't say, "You kicked the door open, you dickhead!"

She didn't even say, "What the fuck are you doing here, Seth?"

She didn't say a word.

Not. A. fucking. Word

He took a step toward her saying in a low voice, "I've asked you a question, Kate…what the fuck is going on?"

"Go away, Seth…" She said and her voice was a throaty whisper.

"No" He said. He took another step toward her, he didn't even stop when Kate said, "I'm serious, Seth…back off!"

Yet, she still wasn't looking at him.

And she was still shivering, and he noticed how goose bumps had covered the skin of her arms and stomach.

"Not a chance, sugar! You're going to tell me what the fuck has gotten into you!"

"Fuck you!" She roared and for some strange reason Seth was happy she had had that kind of reaction.

He knew fury, he knew how to deal with it, he knew how to use it. If nothing else... he knew how to answer to fury!

Kate charged him: she was quick, but he already knew that. It was the slap in the face which surprised him, so much that it took him a second before he even felt the skin burning and another second to block her, by taking her wrists in his hands, before she could hit him again, "Calm down, kiddo!" He said. He didn't even raise his voice.

He wanted answers, that time…and he was going to have them!

He strengthened his hold on Kate's wrists when she tried to break free. Kate was strong, six years spent killing vampires hadn't just given her scars and a nice collection of weapons to show off.

She was strong…but not enough for him, not now. She tried again to struggle and get free but soon stopped when she realized he wasn't going to let her go.

She looked at him, for the first time since she had woken up and Seth noticed her eyes were bloodshot…and she was too pale and her paleness made the bruises on her face look even more appalling.

"Get out of my life, Seth!" She hissed, still looking at him. And she was serious about it. She was as serious as a heart-attack.

And her words stung more than the slap she had given him.

Her harsh words stung so much that without even noticing the grip on her wrists lessened and she used his distraction to try and hit him again.

He once more blocked her attempts to hit him, more out of instinct than because he was really paying attention to anything except for Kate's hazel eyes and her lips pressed in a thin line.

He shook his head, realizing that the thought of hitting her to calm her down hadn't even crossed his mind. Kate was hysterical, and part of him thought that a good slap would make wonders for her actual state of mind…and yet he couldn't bring himself to.

It looked like Kate had reached his same conclusions…or perhaps she had read right through him, because she made him start, more out of surprise than pain, when hitting his chest with a closed fist she screamed, "Hit me, dammit!"

Kate moved to hit him again but then she let her hand fall and asked in a nasal voice, "Why?"

He could feel the anger inside of him, now. He could feel it roaring and it was so powerful that he had to clench his jaws and close his hands in fists to try and block it.

Why? She was asking him why wasn't he slapping some sense into her?

He flared his nostrils …the fury was still there, almost blinding, he took a step toward Kate and wasn't surprised when she didn't move, when she didn't step back.

That was enough to lessen part of the anger …although he didn't understand why.

He looked at her and hissed, "Because it's not who I am!"

_Do you think this is what I am? This is not me!_

He grabbed her wrists and that time, it was Kate who started. He looked at her, trying to meet her eyes although she was now trying to avoiding him, while he said, "Is that what you think of me?! Uh, Kate? Is that what you think I am?"

Kate tilted her head up, looking at him, she smiled and there was such loathing and grudge in that smile that his breath caught in his throat for a moment.

Not even when he had threatened to kill her father had Kate looked at him like that.

"I'm sorry Seth…I had forgotten you are not a fucking bastard!" Her voice had trembled as she said those words and so did her body.

And Seth noticed he was trembling, as well…from the inside. He let go of her wrists and Kate tilted her head down, hugging her arms, her long dark hair veiling her face.

Everything was clear, now.

Kate was afraid…of him.

Ever since they had crossed paths again she had been afraid. She had been afraid of having him in her life; she had been afraid of getting too close to him…just like she was afraid he'd leave her.

It was written all over her face, and it had taken just a few words for him to understand.

Mystery solved. End of the fucking emotional roller coaster!

It was clear, at least considering her last words that what he had told her six years before, still stung.

It was clear she hadn't forgiven him for leaving her.

He had known that story was bound to come up sooner or later. Those words had been hovering over them for six years…and had become a fucking stone. Seth was surprised it had taken them so long to mention it.

Even now, Seth clearly recalled the way Kate had shaken her head and squinted her eyes before asking him if he needed some company, while the sun, the hot weather of that Mexican morning made the nightmare they'd miraculously survived all the more real.

Hi sighed, aware of Kate's eyes on him and he looked at her: Kate was panting and there was sorrow in her eyes, now.

"Why?" She asked. And it didn't take a genius to understand what was referring to, now.

"I wanted to do the right thing," He eventually said, after long moments of silence. And it was the truth…or at least, part of it.

"The right thing? For whom, Seth? For you or for me?" Kate asked. And although her words were as hard as rocks, her voice was low…she sounded tired…exhausted.

Seth blinked his eyes. Was it so hard to understand for her?

"Fuck, Kate…for you! I wanted to do what was right for you! You were just a kid… I ain't a fucking boy scout, but sure as hell I'm not a creep…and besides you don't know what El Rey was, you have no idea!"

"I didn't want to be alone, Seth!" She murmured, her voice had been barely more than a whisper but it had stopped him. She hugged even more tightly her arms and said, "I didn't even know how to drive the Motor Home…I'd never learned…Scott did…and I was tired, I was so tired…"

Kate shook her head and clamped her mouth shut. She ran a hand through her hair and took a step back, turning toward the shower to turn it off, swearing under her breath when the hot water hit her hand, and Seth, just like a few minutes before couldn't help sighing.

Growing a conscience and falling in love sucked, he decided. Yet he couldn't help saying, "I'm sorry"

He didn't even realize he had said those words at the beginning; he stood still listening to his own voice murmuring, "I never meant it to end like this…"

He stopped.

What could he tell her? That he had forbidden himself to think about her, about what might have happened after he left her, alone, in Mexico? What could he tell her? That he had fucked things up, as usual, trying to fix things? Trying to make the right choice for once?

Could he tell her that a kid didn't belong with an ex con?

It was Kate who, eventually talked, saying in a low voice, "It doesn't matter any more. I meant it before…go away, Seth…"

She was calm now…and tired. Right now she looked older than her age. Much older.

"We can't continue this…trip together" Kate said. And Seth couldn't help noticing how much her voice had been shaky while she had said those words. Almost as if she had been on the verge of tears.

"Why?" It was Seth's turn to say that word, now. He took a step toward her, effectively trapping her.

Kate had covered her face with her hands as he got close to her; she tilted her head up and looked at him. Her eyes were dry and yet Seth could clearly hear tears in her voice when she said, "Because you'll leave…one way or another…because we'll get ourselves killed…and I can't allow that to happen, Seth!"

Seth frowned, puzzled. Did she really believe he would leave her? Did she think he would allow something to happen to her?

Kate had taken advantage of his puzzlement to take some steps away from him, she had put on an old white robe, she fastened it, hugging it against her body and without looking at him said, "It's funny, you know? I should have hated you…but I couldn't…

I should have hated you…instead" She sighed, "It was you…thanks to you I recalled I was still alive. I looked for you…I hoped to see you again.

I dreamed of you…"

Seth blinked once twice. So much for ending the fucking emotional roller coaster!

The fucking truth was that he was back on it…with a vengeance!

Kate loved him.

Kate Fuller loved him.

She hadn't uttered the three magic words…but who the fuck needed them anyway?

They were there, though, hidden in her nasal voice, in the way she was now looking at him.

Without pretences, without shields. Without lust.

It was just love….so strong that even he could recognize it!

Kate loved him.

It wasn't just sex.

It wasn't loneliness.

She loved him…and she wanted him to leave.

Was it just his impression or there was actually something very wrong and twisted in that idea?

"Kate" He started and was surprised by the softness…the love he could hear in his own voice. Kate looked surprised too, because she tilted her head on a side, and rested her back against the sink sighing. She looked at him and softly said, "I don't want to lose you too, Seth. I don't want to ram a stake in your heart. I don't want to see you exploding. I don't want to be forced to do that…I…" she tilted her head down and added in a whisper, "I wouldn't be able to do that…"

Seth understood, now.

He knew now what had happened.

He knew why Kate had freaked out.

He had been looking for answers about her erratic behavior when she had woken up…and now he had them.

Strange how he hadn't understood it right away: Kate had had the motherfucker of all the nightmares that night. And she was scared…more than that…she was terrified.

Maybe she had dreamt a different ending for what had happened the previous night in the alley or, maybe, the nightmare had been about that night at the Titty Twister…or God knew what. He wouldn't know for sure until he asked…what he knew, what he was sure of, was that he had been in Kate's dream…and she was now frightened.

"It was just a dream, Kate" He just said.

Kate jerked her head on his side, looking at him in surprise. She opened her mouth to speak but closed it immediately and shook her head.

"Got some news for you, sweetheart: I can take care of myself" Seth said. And his voice was once again sharp, he nibbled at his lower lip and closed the distance between them, not even aware at the moment that their bodies were now touching, and took her face in his hands, "And something else…I would never make you do what needs to be done. I'm quick, Kate. I'd do it myself. I'd never fuck you up like this!"

Kate pushed him away from her and screamed, "Don't you get it? I don't wanna see you die, Seth! I don't want to mourn you too! I don't have tears any more!"

Kate charged him maybe to try and hit him, but Seth stopped her before she could do anything. He grabbed both her wrists in his hands and pushed her against a wall, holding her arms up with his, pressing his body against hers while he said against her face, "I'm not going anywhere, Kate! I did it once…I'm not gonna do that again!"

"Please, Seth…" She pleaded and Seth noticed that she wasn't even trying to struggle. He had pinned her against the wall, blocking her with his weight…and she wasn't putting on a fight.

"I was wrong, Kate!" He said, "I am a fucking bastard!"

Fire.

Kate's eyes were lit up with fire, now. It looked like she had found her strength back: she struggled to get free from his hold. Seth strengthened his hold on her wrists while he said, "Look at me, Kate! I'm not going anywhere…do you hear me? "

There. He had said it! He wasn't going anywhere.

Not that time.

He wasn't going to run away. He was there…to stay.

Kate complied. She looked at him and Seth noticed how her efforts to break free became weaker and weaker until she stopped trying. She stopped struggling. She stopped fighting.

She stopped being afraid.

He saw it in her eyes, a second before he tilted his head down and claimed her lips with his.

Kate was his. She belonged to him.

The lips he was kissing with ever growing passion was his.

Her body, pressed against his, belonged to him.

Her fears, which were fading, kiss after kiss, second after second belonged to him.

Her tears…those belonged to him, as well…although he knew he wasn't going to allow anyone, anything to cause them.

He wasn't going anywhere. He was there to stay…

He tilted his head up, breaking the kiss, feeling breathless. Kate was breathless too, she was panting, while long brown locks, fell on her face flushed with passion, and her eyes were lucid…and the look in them was clear from shadows, from fear and doubts.

He let go of her wrists, while he still felt breathless.

She was his.

They locked gazes and once more their lips met, with the same passion, the same urgency, the same fire of the first time.

He wasn't sure when or how it had happened, but he was touching Kate's skin, now, while the robe had ended up pooling at their feet

Kate's hand sneaked between them and Seth frowned in surprise when it rested on his abdomen, on the bandaging he still had.

His…she was his. She belonged to him.

He smiled against her lips, when she couldn't help gasping in surprise when he scooped her up in his arms.

"Seth…" She panted against his lips. He kept kissing her, over and over, while he blindly walked on the bathroom's door and came back to their bedroom.

Enough.

No more interruptions. No more running away. No more past.

Seth Gecko was finally home.


	15. Chapter 15

_**A/N: **Short chapter...but guys...this time, no one and nothing will interrupt Seth and Kate :D_

_To PhemmePhantom, Rose, Vee017 and StrangeLittleSwirl: you **so** rock!!:D  
_

* * *

_T_here weren't words.

There couldn't have been. Not in that moment.

Not while her heart was bursting in her chest with desire, with happiness.

There were their hands though, that kept seeking each other's, drinking each other's skin. There were their eyes. They had locked gazes and Kate doubted she could look away from him, even if she wanted.

Doubts, fears, questions…they were all erased by their kisses, by the smiles which didn't leave their faces.

She was naked, in Seth's arms, while his fingers were lightly brushing her stomach, tracing with his fingertips thin lines of fire, tattoos of desire that hardened her nipples almost painfully and made her tilt her head back, in pleasure.

She wasn't sure how and when Seth had freed himself from his jeans…or if she had helped him out of them. Time had stopped having any meaning, she just knew that she was naked, in Seth's arms, more vulnerable than she had ever been…and she couldn't stop smiling, she couldn't stop looking at him.

She was mesmerized by Seth's look: so dark with passion, by his hands that were drifting on her body, by the taste of his lips.

There weren't words.

There was pleasure, though. The pleasure was throbbing inside of her, at the centre of her being, almost painfully, craving for release.

She had wished for that moment to happen, she had wanted Seth to lose control…for her, with her.

Kate smiled, circling Seth's hips with her legs, answering to the silent question in his eyes.

Their wait was finally over, yet, Seth's hand slid between their bodies and Kate couldn't help a quiet moan, of surprise and pleasure, as Seth scattered a trail of soft, hot kisses on her cheekbones, on her chin and her throat.

Pleasure: it was moving within her, forcing her to rock her body, seeking release. She felt Seth's lips stretching in a smile against her throat as he still tirelessly teased her….and looked at her.

She didn't want to stop looking at Seth, not when pleasure burned within her, making her tremble, not while pleasure was becoming liquid fire.

She arched her back, as her hips still moved, trying to linger in the moment as much as possible.

It was different, that was the only thought her mind could conjure up in that moment, different than with other men. It was unlike anything she had ever experienced before, it was almost as if every inch of her body was waking up, it was like burning..

It was…Seth. They were together, at last. Being with him, in his arms, was making it different.

Seth…who was balancing on one elbow, while circling her waist with the other arm.

There weren't words, just soft sighs, barely held for a second, by both of them, when Seth entered her, filling her.

The heart…her heart was bursting in her chest and Kate, unable to withstand temptation, grazed Seth's chest with her hand.

Seth's heart was furiously beating in his chest, as well, as he kept still, inside of her, giving her time to ad just to the feeling of their bodies…united…at last.

They moved together and again, there weren't words.

Lips. Their lips met, while Kate circled Seth's shoulders with an arm, holding onto him, meeting his movements with her own, movements which were becoming more urgent with each passing second.

With each push, new fire flowed into her, taking her breath away, and the colours around her become more and more vivid, and losing herself into his eyes when she moved away from his kiss, grasping for air, was simple. It was beautiful.

Their movements weren't low and gentle…but she didn't care.

Pleasure was burning them to the core but Kate felt that it was more than that...she read it in Seth's eyes, in his movements...

It was them…together.

There weren't words…and she knew there wouldn't be. There just were low sighs, when pleasure became too intense, for both of them to bear.

She sought Seth's lips with hers, hungrily kissing him as she felt her body tremble and felt his pleasure nearing. She broke the kiss, moaning with pleasure, against his lips, as her body shook with the intensity of her orgasm, and saw his eyes darken as he found his own pleasure.

There weren't words. No words of love were spoken, not even much later, when Kate nestled her head against Seth's chest, smiling at the sound of his heart beating.

Who needed words, anyway? Not her, not in that moment, not while she was in his arms. In the arms of her love.

* * *

_H_e should have called the authorities. That was the right thing to do.

Gregory Sheridan took a look at the computer screen and then shook his head, refusing to meet the pictures of Seth Gecko. The mug shots of Seth Gecko.

He had looked for the truth, he had wanted to know it, ever since he had left the small, bleak apartment where the man lived.

He had wanted to know the truth, when the feeling he had that the two vampire killers had become extremely dangerous had grown inside of him.

A thief. A killer. A jail breaker…that was "Jack". That was his past...his life before becoming a vampire killer.

He knew he had broken one of the unwritten rules among vampire killers: no questions, because the past didn't matter.

No questions, because the only thing that really mattered was the fight; the only thing that really mattered was killing the damn bastards.

That time was different, though; Seth Gecko was dangerous, extremely dangerous.

The fact that he had apparently changed his way of life didn't make him any less dangerous for them, for their mission.

Seth Gecko was anger, he was fury, he was death…he brought death: he had just changed aim. Why had he done that didn't matter to him. Not right now.

Seth Gecko killed monsters with the same cold blood he had probably showed while killing humans.

And one day, that thief, that murderer would stop being lucky, or would lower his guard down…or he'd meet some bastard stronger, meaner than him…and he'd become one of them.

He'd be worse than any vampire he might have fought, because he was already rotten inside. Because he knew the difference between right and wrong…he just didn't care about it.

And the fact that he looked like he was so close to Kate, to that girl who travelled in a Motor Home and had too many issues on her own to count, made it all more difficult.

Because a vampire killer in love, was bound to make mistakes.

Terrible mistakes which usually cost lives, innocent lives.

It was inevitable. It was going to happen sooner or later.

Gregory covered his face with his hands, resting his back against his chair. He had been in his study, to read the information he had been given over and over, for hours…and he was exhausted…and frightened.

He had wanted to know the truth…for the vampire killers' sake…and for the civilians, as well.

He had wanted to know the truth…and now he was frightened by it. He feared for what it might happen, he was afraid of the darkness inside the vampire killer who had bloodied Texas six years before. Before he disappeared, only to being swallowed by their world.

He should call the authorities; it'd be the right thing to do.

Yet he knew he wasn't going to, because Seth Gecko was a war machine…and that's what they all needed right now. The situation near Vancouver was desperate, so much that vampire killers from all over Canada and part of the United Stated where heading there to lend a hand before it was too late. Before a whole town fell, taken by vampires.

Seth's help could be pivotal.

He couldn't warn authorities. He couldn't call them.

Besides, there was the chance that the cops might not be able to catch him…or that they could find out about their world, an underground world they all tried their best to keep that way. To protect civilians.

It was an underground world Seth Gecko belonged to, whether he wanted it or not.

He moved his hands away from his face and just like he had done dozen of times for the past hours he looked at Seth's Gecko picture. Not for the first time he wondered how and when his life had crossed paths with Kate's for the first time. Neither of them had ever talked about their own past, or he'd know. In a world like theirs, they all knew about each other's past…except for Seth and Kate's.

None of them had ever told stories of loss and revenge…they just fought the fight.

He knew, though, that they had both started killing vampires around the same time, and they had both been alone.

They had always been on their own…until a few days before, when they had met.

What had happened to them? He realized he had focused his search so much on Seth Gecko, on his past, that he had totally forgotten about the girl.

He realized she might be a problem, as much as Seth.

He had the truth, now. He knew the truth…at least, he knew part of it.

He knew the truth…and it was terrible.

It was merciless, like the world filled with death and pain they all lived in.

It was terrible…

What he had to do in order to protect their world, the vampire killers and the civilians was terrible.

There wouldn't be cops, authorities involved, he decided, because the man didn't belong to that world any more. Seth Gecko was their responsibility, now. The vampire killers had to deal with him. And there was only one thing they could do to deal with him...and the threat he posed for their world: Seth Gecko had to die.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: **thanks to StrangeLittleSwirl for her review and her support!:)

Chapter 4

-_The eve of the battle_-

_**C**__ry yourself to sleep_

_We will sleep alone forever._

_I'll lay you down to the_

_Same place with all I love._

"_I_ made some coffee!" Kate exclaimed behind him. Seth kept looking at the road, but smiled when she got close to him and sat next to him.

It was his turn to drive…. actually, the schedule they had set up at the beginning of the trip had been forgotten...and none of them gave a damn about it.

He accepted the plastic mug Kate gave him, slowing down as he drank his coffee, he gave it back to Kate who accepted it in silence.

It was dawning and the road ahead of them was basically empty.

It was dawning and they had finally hit the road again, although they were driving much more slowly than before...and he didn't care...and to be honest it wasn't like Kate did either, although it had been her who, eventually, that night, had insisted on hitting the road again.

Truth was, and he had to smile at that thought, that they couldn't keep their hands off each other.

Truth was...he was happy.

Seth Gecko…happy. He hadn't believed it would happen again. He had long stopped believing it could happen…that he could feel happiness.

Instead here he was, happy…and in love…and in peace. Peacefulness…well, that was something he decidedly wasn't used to. Peacefulness was something he didn't think he would ever experience.

And Kate was peaceful too, much more than he had ever seen her, she was smiling in that moment, sitting next to him, on the passenger seat, an old Afghan draped around her shoulders and underneath it she was wearing one of those ugly, too large sweaters she loved to wear…and that he loved to undress her from.

They had both been smiling a lot for the past three days. They had smiled, although they had known that once their trip was over they were going to fight.

He had gotten some decent sleep for the past few days, without nightmares…and yet the thought of giving up on fighting vampires hadn't crossed his mind….and since Kate hadn't talked about it either, he was reasonably sure she didn't want to give up on the fight either.

Yet…a few hours before, when he had woken up, with Kate still sleeping in his arms, he had thought about what they were going to do after that fight…and for the first time for six years vampires hadn't been part of his plans for the future.

Who the fuck was he kidding? For the first time for the last six years he actually **had** plans for the future!

And in his near future he wanted to find out about the mother fucker who had been following them ever since they had left their motel and had resumed their trip to Meadows Lyne. Once found out about him, he had lots of things planned for the motherfucker…and in all of them, blood was involved. And guts.

The feeling of being followed, spied on, observed was now a reality and since it was almost morning, it was likely they were being followed by a human, a living being…although not for long, if he had any say in the matter.

The car, an old black Ford was following them and Seth clenched his jaws trying to keep his anger in check.

He didn't know who the motherfucker was…he only knew he was trouble. He was sure of that.

He had to talk to Kate. He had promised to himself that he wouldn't fuck things up between them by acting like he'd always done; he took a look at the girl: he couldn't see the mug any more and Kate was now sitting hugging her knees against her chest.

She was still smiling, though…and looked lost in thought, with a hand idly playing with a strand of her hair. He strengthened his hold on the wheel, he had to talk to Kate and tell her about what was going on.

He was surprised when Kate said, "Seth?"

He was mostly surprised by the hardness in her voice, such a stark contrast with the still peaceful look on her face.

"Yes, sugar?" He answered. He was curious, he briefly turned to better look at her: she was still smiling but the icy look in her eyes was back.

Kate knew. He was sure of that…he felt that, even before she said, "That black Ford has been following us for a while…and it's not the first car that did it…did you notice that too?"

Seth just nodded at her words. Neither of them spoke for a few seconds and then Kate asked, "What are you gonna do? 'Cause as far as I'm concerned it's about time to cut the crap! I'm sick of them spying on us! "

Seth blinked his eyes, before he returned to look at Kate, who just shrugged her shoulders, before getting up and going to the back of the motor home.

Seth focused on the road ahead of him and smiled when he heard the girl rummaging through one of the secret compartments.

He loved Kate…but then again, what else was new?

* * *

_T_he phone call from Gregory Sheridan had surprised Clay Winston.

The bastard had dropped a mean bomb with that phone call; Clay didn't understand why Greg had chosen him, among all people, to deal with the problem: yes the two vampire killers were heading toward his town and he could see Greg 's point…he could even agree with him about Seth Gecko and the fact that he was trouble with a capital T, that didn't mean, though, that he was happy about the whole thing.

He hadn't chosen that kind of life to kill human beings, not even people like Seth Gecko.

His musings were interrupted by a sudden movement of the vehicle in front of him: the two vampire killers' motor home made a sudden u-turn, leaving the main road to get into a side one

"Son of..." Clay said, following them.

They had seen him! If his fellows cops at the prescint had only seen the scene! If they only imagined what one of their peers really did for a living...

People usually feared Clay Winston, he used to believe it was because of physical aspect: he was tall, muscular, with broad shoulders...his whole body seemed to radiate strength and power. He wasn't sure any more, though.

He had started to believe that the fear he could sometimes read on the faces of the people, the scumbags he met, was due to the look in his blue eyes: it was cold, hard...and the years – too many sometimes he thought- spent fighting against monsters, human and otherwise had hardened it even more.

No one, though, at the prescint had any idea of what he did. No one had to know. Ever.

Civilians had to stay the hell out of their world, they all agreed on that...possibly even Seth and Kate. That was the rule...and it had worked out, things had worked out ...at least until a few weeks ago.

Civilians were starting to ask questions, they were starting to be afraid...and be suspicious. The situation, which was already difficult in itself, was going to go to hell in a hand basket if they didn't do something about it...as soon as possible.

He sighed and swore under his breath when after a few miles in the side road he had to suddenly hit the brakes, when he almost collided with the motor home. It was parked sideways on the street blocking it. Before he could go into reverse, the window next to him shattered and a moment later he heard the unmistakable sound of the trigger of a gun cocking...

No...it wasn't just a gun. It was a shotgun, he realized that when it was pointed at his head. Clay felt its weight against his temple. He raised his hands from the steering wheel and looked in front of him, toward the motor home.

He narrowed his eyes when he saw a girl getting out from the Motor Home: she was thin, quite tall, dressed in jeans and a black sweater, she was wearing a too large black coat. She had a gun too, a sawn-off shot gun and was aiming it at his head as well.

"Get out!" The man just said.

He tried to turn his head to look at him but the man stopped him by hissing: "Don't fucking move" He accompanied his words with a slight push of the gun's barrel against his face. Ok, so moving was not a good idea, so he kept still while the girl moved toward the car and a moment later, the door of the passenger seat opened and the girl still aiming the sawn-off shot gun at him said: "Get out!"

It wasn't supposed to end up like that. They weren't supposed to find out about him. He just had to check on them!

He had underestimated them...like a fucking rookie. What was worst? Although he had known one of them was a criminal, a jail breaker, a killer...he had underestimated the two vampire killers. How could he have been so stupid?

The girl took a step back, but Clay noticed she didn't lower her weapon. He nodded his head and then felt the man lower his gun.

Disarm them, was out of the question for the time being, so he got out from his car, keeping his hands up while the girl moved toward him and a moment later he felt the pressure of the barrel against his back.

They worked well together, he had to give them that. They hadn't spoken, they had barely looked at each other and yet they had moved in perfect synchrony. Finally, the man moved in front of him and Clay had the chance to look at him, and he thought that even if Greg hadn't informed him about his past, about his real identity, Clay would have probably guessed what the man in front of him really was anyway. It just took a look.

Seth Gecko was an unforgiving, mean son of a bitch...and in that moment he was royally pissed off.

"You must be Jack..." He just said after a few long seconds of silence.

The man didn't answer, it was the girl who did for him by increasing the pressure of the gun against his back. Clay had troubles reconciling the tales he had heard about Kate, the vampire killer with the girl he had just met...to him she looked too young, too thin, too pale and for the life of him he couldn't understand what the fuck was she doing with that scumbag!

He had heard tales about that girl over the years...some of them were about her fights against vampires, others were more sinister...more unsettling.

He had heard that someone had done a number on that girl...and somehow, just by looking at her Clay didn't have doubts about that. What he didn't understand was how Seth Gecko entered the picture.

She might be a girl, a voice in his head told him, but she was a girl who was threatening him with a sawn-off shotgun, and she looked like she was ready and willing to use it!

So he straightened his shoulders and kept his voice even when he said: "Greg told us a few days ago that you might come..."

Seth got closer to him, still aiming his gun but didn't talk...and neither did Kate. Even if he couldn't see the girl, he was positive her eyes held the same blank expression he could see in Seth's eyes, now.

"My name is Clay Winston, I'm from Meadows Lyne's group. Greg has informed you about the situation, hasn't he?" He paused when neither of the vampire killers spoke and then added, "We just wanted to make sure that everything was going alright..."

It was half a truth. Yes, he belonged to Meadows Lyne's group.

Yes, he had been warned they might come to his town.

And yes, it had been Gregory Sheridan who had informed him.

It was half a truth...and he was positive that neither of them was buying it.

"Bullshit!" Seth said confirming his suspicions, and then Kate added: "You've been following us for days!"

That, as far as he knew, was true. He knew Greg, he was sure the man had made sure to have Kate and Seth constantly followed and spied on, wherever they were. And it looked like Seth and Kate had known all along.

Once again he felt the barrel of the gun against his face and Seth's voice was but a hiss when he said, "The truth! Or they'll pick up pieces of vampire killer from the pavement!"

"The truth..." Clay said. He wasn't even aware that his voice had dropped, becoming more and more like a hiss not that different than Seth's when he said, "The truth is that Greg was worried about you!"

"So he decided to spy on us? How considerate of him!" Kate said from behind his shoulders.

Clay tilted his head on a side, trying to ease the soreness in his muscles. He could have disarmed one of them...maybe both and cut that fucking charade...but that wasn't the plan.

They hadn't asked him to deal with the two vampire killers, not right away, at least. Who was he kidding? He wasn't even supposed to talk to them until they got in town! So he looked at Seth while he answered to Kate's question. "You've been both threatened "

Ignoring the weapon pressed against his face, he titled his head toward Kate, meeting for a moment her face and added, "Although, according to Greg...the threats were against you, mostly..."

The barrel of the gun that Seth was aiming at him, painfully pushed against his face, forcing him to turn his head. Seth had his head tilted on a side...and there was fury in his brown eyes, now.

It was clear that his words had struck a chord within him...or, maybe, he just didn't like the way he had talked to the girl.

Then again, it might as well be as Greg thought: that girl was Seth Gecko's weak spot. The only weakness for an amoral son of a bitch, for a war machine against vampires.

"We can take care of ourselves!" Kate replied.

"Give me a break!" Clay exclaimed. He had heard tales about them, about Jack and Kate...not only about their fights, about the whole nests of vampires they had destroyed...but about the aftermath of their actions. He had heard tales about the trail of destruction they left behind sometimes, when they finished to do their job.

"Come again?" Seth asked. He hadn't raised his voice, it was still a hiss, but Clay didn't need to look at him to know that his fury had gone up various notches.

Yet he couldn't help it, when he almost shouted: "While you guys go around and have fun playing the fucking lone gunmen, those of us who actually **stay **long enough to see the dust settle, have to burst their asses, just trying to stay alive!"

He knew he was being irrational, he knew that it was the wrong move, that he was taking a big risk by saying those words...especially to two very pissed off, armed vampire killers. But for some strange reason, he who was usually so calm, so in control of his feelings, couldn't stop himself.

"Things are different here, we're not in South America!" He continued.

He noticed that while he was talking Kate had moved, she was still aiming her gun at him, but she was next to Seth now. So he looked at both of them while he said between clenched teeth: "We work together here!"

His last words seemed to hover over them and Clay found himself thinking about how absurd that situation really was: he was alone, at dawn, with two vampire killers who had a reputation for being ruthless and unforgiving and were now threatening him with guns, while he was panting with rage. Things decidedly weren't going according to the plans, he decided.

None of them moved for a second, then Seth lowered his gun, but his relief was brief because the man said: "Fuck you! We're out of here!"

Kate looked at Seth for a moment and Clay could read surprise in her hazel eyes; it didn't last long,though, Kate lowered her gun as well...the look in her eyes was now blank, unreadable.

"You're right vampire killer! We're not in South America any more!"

Seth moved away from him, followed by Kate. They turned together and moved as one toward the Motor Home, which gave Clay the chance to look at them together...he saw the looks they exchanged and it was almost like they were having some kind of conversation just looking at each other.

The two vampire killers slowly got toward the motor home, their shoulders lightly brushed while they walked.

Oh, Greg was right: they were in trouble...with a capital T! There were signs everywhere that showed it...but to Clay, even more than the way they had pulled off that little show, without a word being said between them...or how it looked like they could fucking talk to each other through their eyes...it had been the way their shoulders brushed when they walked together.

Two vampire killers who had such a strong bond like Seth and Kate had, brought with them a world of trouble...a world of death.

And if one of those vampire killers was Seth Gecko, the situation was only bound to get more and more complicated.

He didn't have any choice: he had to go along with Greg's plan. He tilted his hands down, he had kept them up throughout the exchange, and said: "Wait a minute!"

Seth and Kate were near the motor home's door when they simultaneously turned toward him and Clay couldn't help noticing the way Seth moved and how he had almost imperceptibly done so that he could shield Kate's body with his.

_ A world of trouble? Make it a fucking solar system! _

Clay thought and he wasn't surprised in the least when Seth quickly, all too quickly pointed again the gun at him, his finger on the trigger, ready to shoot.

Clay sighed and tilted his hands up, he slowly moved toward them while he said: "We need you! We need all the help we can get!" He paused, waiting for their reaction, when neither of them moved nor talked he continued: "They're coming here from all over Canada and United States, the situation is critical!"

Kate moved, she took a few steps forward, she was next to Seth now; she still had her sawn-off shot gun in her left hand, but she had lowered it, he noticed without any real surprise that she was holding a gun in her right hand...finger on the trigger.

He narrowed his eyes as he got closer to them and said: "We're not talking about a couple of bars and clubs in the outskirts of town! Those assholes are thinking bigger now! They don't give a fuck about keeping a low profile any more! They want my town and they're getting it!"

He saw Kate throwing a glance at Seth before asking, "How many? How many vampires are we talking about?"

"Thousands!" Clay said, and he felt breathless for a moment after he spoke. Not that he hadn't known before...but saying it out loud...was making it all the more real. It was the truth: his own town was being ripped apart by vampires. His voice was steady, despite he felt his heart hammering in his throat while he said, "They're thousands...and they keep coming, and we can't kill them all...we're outnumbered!"

Clay moved toward them, his hands still up in the air and looked at them: Seth and Kate both looked indifferent at his words, and he could only hope they were bluffing.

He tilted his hands down and put them in the pockets of his coat while he added, "People are starting to talk...to wonder...and we all know what would happen if they got in the way"

He stopped and was Kate who finished his sentence, saying in a low voice, "More food for them...more trouble for us..."

Clay just nodded at her words, he opened his mouth to speak, but Seth interrupted him, there wasn't any trace of indifference in his voice, on his face while he said: "And how the fuck did it come down to this? What happened? Did you guys woke up one day and found out your town was fucked up?"

Although his voice had expressed just a mild interest in what was going on, the look in his eyes seemed almost outraged...and Clay had to grit his teeth to refrain himself from apologizing. Those two didn't know shit about the nightmare they had been living!

So he squared his shoulders and said, "We've been fighting them for weeks...both vampires and civilians! But as I said we're outnumbered! That's why we have asked for help...that's why Greg asked for yours!"

"Oh..." Kate said while a bitter smile crept on her lips, "we can play the fucking lone gunmen now?"

Clay shrugged. "You're nuts! But you're two war machines! So, yeah...you're exactly what we need right now! Meadows Lyne is falling apart and if that happens..."

"Back. The. Fuck. Off." Seth said between clenched teeth, interrupting him, "Or these two nuts, as you called us, won't do shit!"

Clay shook his head. "I'm sorry about all of this, buddy! I really am...I only did what they asked me to!"

Seth took a step toward him, although he was shorter than he was, he was impressive: he exuded an aura of danger...and charisma which surprised him and for a moment, while he had said those words he had seen something flickering in his brown eyes, something he couldn't quite put his finger on...a recollection, maybe.

It didn't last long, though, and Clay kept looking back at Seth while the man said, "I'm not your buddy...and I don't give a shit about your orders! Back the fuck off or we're outta here!"

He wasn't bluffing, now. He was dead serious about it. He might fight vampires...but Clay didn't doubt that he would feed him to one of those fucks in a heartbeat, if he didn't do what he had ordered him to.

Clay saw Kate getting close to Seth and whisper, "Jack..." There was a brief hesitation in her eyes and then she continued, "Let's get out of here..."

Seth just nodded at her, without looking at her. Clay, on the other hand, couldn't stop looking at her, especially when he realized that she didn't agree with Seth. It had been because of that brief look of hesitation in her eyes, it had been very telling for Clay.

Kate...she was Seth's only weakness according to Greg...and it was pivotal for his plan.

He looked at Seth first then at Kate and said, "Look, we're all on the same side, here. We all want the same thing...don't we? You know what? Screw the rules! Now, would you put those fucking guns away, please?"

Seth and Kate looked at each other for a second before they both put their guns away. Clay looked around: it was morning, and soon there would be cars...and civilians. He looked at the two vampire killers and said, "We'd better go back to our cars, before someone comes and wonders what the fuck is going on here!"

Seth and Kate nodded at his words while he added in a low voice, more to himself than to them, "We're so used to dealing with bloodsuckers that we end up forgetting about the others..."

Seth and Kate didn't comment on his words, they just looked at him, before exchanging a look whose meaning Clay couldn't quite make out. It didn't matter though, not in that moment. What it really mattered was that they had to come to Meadows Lyne...and not just because that was part of Greg's plan.

He hadn't lied to them...they really needed all the help they could get in town.

"Please" He repeated, "Come to Meadows Lyne...even for a night...we do really need your help"

Once again the two vampire killers looked at each other...and just like it had happened before they entered their own world...where they didn't need to speak aloud to understand each other...their eyes were enough.

And although he knew how dangerous the bond between them really was, for a moment he almost envied them. He didn't know...he didn't want to know what exactly was going on between the two of them, whether they were in love...or were just having sex.

All he knew, from personal experience, was that such a strong bond between vampire killers was dangerous. Love was dangerous for vampire killers.

All he knew was that loving a vampire killer asked for sacrifices.

All he knew was that loving a vampire killer meant to make choices...sometimes painful ones, although they were necessary. He wondered whether the two vampire killers knew...he wondered whether they cared.

He had made a choice...he had been forced to, for the greater good, because the alternative would be betraying everything he had always believed in.

And yet... part of him almost envied the two vampire killers, because either they hadn't been forced to make a choice...or they didn't mean to.

Or, maybe, they still thought they could have it all.

Seth's voice distracted him from his musings and Clay was almost grateful for that. That wasn't the moment to think about his past, to dwell on the decisions he had made...and why he had made them.

Greg was right, that it was all that mattered...the son of a bitch was right for once. Kate and Seth spelled disaster...for what they had inside, for their bond. They brought a sea, an ocean of troubles

"Move that car!" Seth just said.

They had accepted. They would come to Meadows Lyne...the plan could go on.

He nodded at Seth's words and came back to his car. He waited for the two vampire killers to leave, only then, when the motor home had come back to the main road, he took off his cell phone from the inside pocket of his coat. Greg answered after the first ring.

"They're coming to Meadows Lyne" He said, "Where do we go from here?"

Greg told him to listen and Clay closed his eyes. He had underestimated the two vampire killers once, he wouldn't do the same mistake twice.

Seth Gecko was dangerous...and not only for his past, for his life before he started killing vampires...but for his present as well.

Because he was a mean mother fucking warrior, a fighter...and that made him even more dangerous.

Because he was fury, on which he applied a tight control: throughout their exchange, although his words had been harsh, he had stayed calm, his emotions in check...and he wondered what it would happen if something...or someone, ripped that control away from him.

That was what had scared him the most about Seth Gecko. Greg had only scratched the surface of his dangerousness. Greg had been scared by his past...and how it would make him terrifying if he was ever turned into a vampire.

That was all a bunch of bullshit for Clay. It wasn't the fact that Seth Gecko had been a killer to make him potentially dangerous. It was what he had inside...because Clay felt that if Seth Gecko was ever freed from his few ties with humanity, from the tight control he had over his instincts...it would be hard to kill him.

Who the fuck was he kidding? It would be impossible.


	17. Chapter 17

**_A/N: thanks to Vee and bammed 7 for their reviews and their words. And StrangeLittleSwirl for her support!:)_**

**_

* * *

_**

_S_he had been happy up until a hour before. She had woken up in Seth's arms, while it was still dark outside the motel room they had stayed in for the night. She had been happy, cradled in Seth's arms, with only a weak light coming from the bathroom to lit their room.

Seth had been already awake, she had known that even without seeing him just by listening to his heart beating and when she had tilted her head up, he had been looking at her, while holding her closer at him.

She had been happy.

They had talked in low voices and had decided to resume their journey toward Meadows Lyne...and it had been natural.

There hadn't been nightmares for the past three days. There hadn't been fear, there hadn't been their past.

It had been just Seth and she.

She had been happy...she had smiled, everything had been perfect like in one of the dreams she used to wake up from, those she had hated...maybe because they were mementos of things she didn't think she could have. Not any more.

Seth had kept surprising her for the past three days. Seth was making her happy, happier than she ever remembered being.

Then why she only felt like killing him in that moment?

Why had her happiness imploded, leaving behind just a trail of fear and guilt?

It had been Clay's words...that square-jawed giant with dark brows, blue eyes, whose look was as icy as hers and whose words had been like being gutted...over and over.

She had to give credit to the vampire killer: he had cold blood. He had kept his shit together even when they had threatened him with guns...and not only hadn't he denied he was spying on them...he had kept observing them throughout their meeting!

He had kept observing them, studying them, watching their movements.

And Seth...

The son of a bitch wasn't kidding! She knew him well enough to be sure that he hadn't been bluffing with the man, he'd really left if Clay hadn't stopped following them.

That wasn't the reason for her sudden anger at Seth, she didn't expect him to become someone else altogether, she didn't expect him to become a fucking knight in a shining armor!

What she expected, though, was that he didn't take decisions for the both of them! She expected that he didn't take for granted that she would agree with him!

She...she was furious!

And yet...that wasn't the only reason for her anger. She knew Seth. She knew that in his own way he had tried to do the right thing for both of them. She knew he had tried to protect her.

No...she was furious because of the vampire killers' words...she was furious because what that man had told about their job had been harsh and it hadn't just angered her..it had upset her, more than she was ready to admit.

For six years she had wandered from town to town...and so had Seth.

For six years they had killed vampires, whole nests of bloodsuckers and none of them had ever stopped long enough to see the aftermath.

Never had she thought about the "aftermath"

Never had she thought about the consequences of her actions, of her frantic hunt for vampires. She had never wanted anything to do with the vampire killers of the towns she had stayed in. What was the point if she only killed ugly fucks and then left?

It wouldn't have made sense.

Hunting vampires was the only thing that had made sense, the only thing her life had been about. Until that morning she had never really considered how many lives she had jeopardized with her actions.

To say she had thought she was doing the right thing. She had thought she had been saving lives with her actions!

She looked at Seth: the man looked calm, it was almost as if Clay's words hadn't had any effect on him and Kate couldn't help sighing causing Seth to ask: "What's up?"

Seth looked at her for a moment and Kate shook her head before saying in a low voice, "Nothing...I was just thinking about what the vampire killer said..."

Seth returned to look at the road, he blinked once twice but didn't talk. Kate crossed her arms over her chest and added, "I never thought about what happens after, you know, I'm done in a town"

There. She had said that. She had promised to herself that there wouldn't be any things unsaid between them, that she wouldn't run...not any more.

Seth was there to stay...and she was too.

Seth looked at her for a moment, puzzled, then at the road, his face was serious, while he said, "Nothing. That's what happens! He fed us a bunch of bullshit! When we're finished in a town there are no vampires left! We're not amateurs, Kate...we know our shit!"

She nodded at Seth words, relief washing away her anger and that black cloud of fear she had felt growing inside of her since Clay had started talking.

Seth was right, they weren't amateurs. After all, it was what she had always thought, what she had always taken for granted: she knew how good she was at what she did and she knew how good Seth was.

It was what she had always thought...and yet, despite Seth's words...she wasn't sure any more.

"You're right" She eventually said, "but it only takes one..." She had to swallow before adding, "One fucking blood sucker..."

Seth didn't answer her, but Kate noticed the way he had clenched his jaws. Whoever would have thought that Seth Gecko would care about such things?

"We can't kill them all" She continued in a low voice.

Seth nodded without even looking at her and Kate couldn't help hugging her arms, while the atmosphere in the motor home got graver and graver.

She almost started when after long seconds of silence Seth said: "No we can't...we can just send them back to hell, the more the better"

Kate nodded at Seth's words. The reality...their reality had come back to their lives with a vengeance.

Their past had come back...just like their present...and their future: Meadows Lyne...and its vampires.

Thousands of vampires,...and God knew how many vampire killers gathered there to kill them.

"It's thousands of vampires" She said, more to herself than to him; "Thousands!" She shook her head in disbelief and asked, "How the fuck could it happen?"

Seth shrugged. "I don't like it, sugar..."

Kate sighed: "I don't like it either, Seth. But we can't just pretend this is not happening..."

Seth turned to look at her, he was genuinely puzzled by her words and Kate thought he hadn't been listening to her..and Seth confirmed her thoughts when he said, "I wasn't thinking about those vampires. I don't like that there's some asshole at our heels...I don't like that this shit has gone on for days! "

He shook his head clearly disgusted and said, "Rules my ass! They were spying on us, sugar!"

"I know, Seth" Kate said.

She hadn't bought Clay's excuses any more than Seth had. They were spying on them, they had been doing it for days...and she didn't know why. It didn't make sense.

What she knew, though, that not only they had to watch their backs from vampires...but now they had to be extra careful with vampire killers as well...as if the situation wasn't already enough complicated!

They couldn't turn their backs now, though...not after what they had heard. "I don't like what's going on either, but if what Clay said it's true..."

She didn't finish her sentence, as more and more often was happening it was Seth who did, saying, "It means that we'll have to stake a whole fucking lot of bloodsuckers all the way to hell!"

Kate smiled. Did she really think that he would turn his back to the fight? Yes, she was sure he had told the truth to Clay. Seth Gecko didn't bluff. He didn't lie.

But she knew, felt that even if things with the vampire killer had gone differently, he'd have found another way to solve the problem.

She knew he wouldn't give up on the fight.

Seth could claim he killed bloodsuckers to get some sleep and he probably thought that was the truth. Kate, though, knew otherwise...Seth killed vampires because it was the right thing to do. Just like she did.

"Looks like a plan..." She said, breaking her train of thoughts, she hugged her knees against her chest and looked at the road ahead of her

"And then..." Seth said, without looking at her, his hands gripping the steer wheel.

"Then what?" Kate asked, creasing her brow.

Seth blinked then glanced at her, he didn't talk at he beginning, and when he did, Kate couldn't help thinking that she had heard him using a similar tone of voice once...with her...when he had told her he would shoot her father in the face, if she took more than three minutes to get dressed.

"Then...I'll find Greg...and rip his other fucking eye out!"


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: **Thanks to Bammed, Vee, StrangeLittleSwirl and FemmePhantom...virtual hugs to you :))

* * *

_S_eth didn't think he had ever seen so many vampire killers together. The large basement of Sacred Heart Church, in the outskirts of Meadows Lyne, was filled with vampire killers.

That didn't even remotely look like a briefing to decide what to do against that town's bloodsuckers...that looked more and more like a fucking sit in! It looked like Woodstock for vampire killers!

Clay hadn't lied about Meadows Lyne: it was falling apart. His first impression, when they had gotten into town, was that it was too fucking silent...and empty. It was deserted.

Meadows Lyne looked like a fucking ghost town from a horror movie, there were even a lake and a wood surrounding the town, and a spooky mist creeping out from them.

The fact that the headquarter for the vampire killers was in a Church, hadn't been a surprise for Seth. They fought vampires...fucking demons that came from hell...staying in a Church to decide the action against the fuckers was only logical.

What had surprised him had been the Church itself, especially its basement! Whoever would think that the basement of that average looking Church was a bona fide Headquarter for vampire killers?

And speaking of vampire killers...there were dozens of them filling the room...and they weren't coming just from Canada or the States as Clay had anticipated that morning, he was pretty sure he had recognized a few faces from South America's communities.

As much as he had tried to stay the fuck away from the underground world of vampire killers he realized that he had come to know some of those people by reputation...and that some of them knew him...and they knew Kate.

Kate.

He didn't like the way they were looking at Kate, he didn't like it that they were watching them...even now, while they were standing against a wall, waiting for Father Marcus, the leader of the town's vampire killer to come into the basement and officially begin the briefing.

There wasn't just Clay keeping an eye on them, there were others as well..and they hadn't stopped looking at them ever since they had entered the room, one of them, a young woman, was sitting next to Clay.

She was young, probably in her early thirties, but she looked like she was a veteran among them...it was a feeling he had just by looking at the way she was casually leaning against a wall, as if she owned the place, he could see it from the way other vampire killers looked at her with respect. She was thin, pale, dressed in black, her ash-blond hair was long and picked in a ponytail, her eyes were gray...and were now onto him, examining him...hunting him, almost.

She'd be really beautiful...if it wasn't for the hardness in her chiseled features and for the thin, red-blood scar that trailed down from under her right eye to her cheek, almost like a tear.

The look in her eyes was beyond icy...it wasn't the hardness behind which Kate hid her feelings...it was different than the look in Clay's eyes...there had been hardness in the man's eyes...but in a way it had been comforting. He had known right away where the man stood: he hated his guts and had made no mystery out of it.

The look in that woman's eyes was emotionless, cold. She was smiling now, at something Clay was saying, but the smile never reached her eyes and Seth thought that it was like looking at a fucking doll's eyes.

Now they were both looking at him, and she was studying him...and Seth thought that she probably looked at the vampires she was about to kill the same way she was looking at him now.

He shook his head deciding to focus on other vampire killers who were in the basement, some of them were giving out huge cups of coffee. He glanced at Kate who was looking around. She looked incredulous, she tilted her head up meeting his eyes for a moment, she shortened the distance between them and said, "Looks like a fucking concert! Look there's even the stage!"

That was true, it was one of the first things he had noticed when he had entered the basement, next to the entrance there was a stage...and most of the vampire killers were around it...as if that was a fucking rock concert!

If he hadn't been among those people, if he hadn't felt those eyes on him, maybe he would have smiled.

That wasn't the moment to smile. That wasn't the moment to lower his guard down.

And it looked like Kate had been thinking along the same lines because the light smile that had crept on her lips faded...and after a second so did the noises in the room.

Seth saw the door beside the stage open and a moment later, a black-dressed man came up on the stage and started speaking. He was of medium-height, thin, with short blonde hair.

He was probably Father Marcus, Seth thought, even before glimpsing the little golden cross the man had pinned on his jacket's lapel.

He was a priest...but Seth noticed right away that he was going to deal with a real vampire killer. He noticed the lines around his mouth, the deep circles under his eyes, that made him look almost old...so much that Seth couldn't say how old the guy on the stage really was. What he knew was that he wasn't just going to bless the water for the people in the room and send them to fight, like some of the vampire killers priests he had met over the years had done .

He was a mean mother fucking vampire killer...just like the other people in the room. He realized that when he took a look at the way he moved, scanning the room with his blue-gray eyes...it was clear he was used to using all of his senses to hunt, he was used to watching his back, to fighting. It was clear even from the tone of his deep voice while he apologized for the delay.

He had mistakenly thought that the Church was just the Headquarter, that the priest would be the leader of the vampire killers' only in name, as it often happened, but someone else would be in charge...Clay perhaps, or some other fucker he had been introduced to.

He had been wrong.

It was the priest...and when he took a step forward to better look at him, he realized that despite the lines around his mouth and the circles under his eyes he wasn't really old...he was probably younger than him or Clay...and he had to deal with a shitty situation. He was closer to the stage now, and wasn't surprised when he heard Kate's steps behind him.

"It's likely that more vampire killers will come here for the next two days" Father Marcus said, "Since we're largely outnumbered we decided to wait before attempting anything meaningful against the vampires. I think we might try something now. As you have probably noticed the town is pretty much deserted. Not all the civilians are dead, in case you're wondering...but they're hiding...which is going to be useful for us...especially for the next few hours"

The priest was standing at the center of the stage, his hands in his trousers pockets and Seth realized he didn't need to raise his voice, they were all listening to him, no one was interrupting him.

"I believe you have all been informed that we are dealing with thousands of vampires. They've spread up all over town" Father Marcus said. He took a step back, toward a big blackboard which he turned to show them a map of the town on which there were red signs that showed the vampires' whereabouts.

"We'll form groups and then hit them as one. Before that I'd suggest you to take a quick sweep around the town, so that you can get to know the places beforehand."

Father Marcus looked on the verge of exhaustion but Seth couldn't care less, he was looking at the map and the red dots on it, noticing that they ended up forming a circle around the town...were they idiots? How come no one had noticed a thing for weeks? Vampires couldn't have taken a whole town without anyone noticing!

"What I don't get..." He said interrupting Father Marcus, "is how did they get this far..,."

Seth pointed at the map with a finger and continued, "They keep a low profile...they open their fucking clubs...and keep it that way! I've seen a few big places in my time...but vampires keeping a whole town by the balls? Never..."

So much for keeping a low profile, he thought for a second, why hadn't he given out copies of his mug shots while he was at it?

They were all looking at him now, including Father Marcus, who took a step forward and said, "I don't know what happened...none of us can really tell why things changed for them...they just did. Vampires changed their rules. Things started to change a few weeks ago... ever since then ..." He sighed before saying, "Don't think we have been here doing nothing!"

Seth wasn't surprised when Clay interrupted the priest and said, "We have been fighting them for over a month...but there are just too many of them! When we think it's over, there are always more!"

Seth jerked his head on a side, looking at Kate, who took a step forward and was next to him, she looked back at him and then at the priest and said, "I was still in South America when I heard about a big colony in Canada...but I didn't imagine anything like that."

She stopped talking when other vampire killers started at once, claiming more or less the same thing. They all stopped, though, when the scarred chick next to Clay said, "I had heard the same things in Seattle, there were rumors about something big going on...even before you informed us"

Father Marcus nodded at the woman's words and said, "I've talked to the leaders of various groups...and it's been a very interesting conversation. What's happening here, isn't just a spur of the moment...it was planned, studied. I've been informed that a strange situation has occurred: while in little towns the situation with local vampires hasn't changed, the same can't be said for big centers...vampires are leaving..."

Seth saw Kate shaking her head in disbelief at the priest's words before asking, "Are you saying that they've all come here?"

Father Marcus looked at Kate and Seth noticed that unlike many of the vampire killers he had met, there wasn't any sign of coldness in his look, on the contrary he could only glimpse fire and passion for what he did, for the fight...and something else, he was a smart son of a bitch.

"Precisely" The priest said, "which makes sense, I guess. Meadows Lyne isn't a big town, but it's huge enough for them to nest here unnoticed. We're near to Vancouver but we're not close enough to get noticed. We fly below the radar, so it's been easy for them to regroup, so to speak. "

Seth was incredulous. That...wasn't his place and sure as hell it wasn't his fight! Not that time.

One thing was fighting alone, wandering from one hellhole to another, stealing stuff from the motherfuckers he killed...but a whole town filled with vampires? Being among dozens of vampire killers and talking strategies was another thing altogether!

Not to mention that there were too many people involved and some of them were American.

Kate, though, looked totally comfortable with the situation, so much that she was saying, "But why now?"

Clay answered her question, he was leaning against a wall, and he looked relaxed even while he said, "I don't know...maybe because they're less than they used to...or because we're more and are getting good at killing them?"

Later he'd have kicked himself for talking, yet in that moment he couldn't help it. He shrugged and said, "Doesn't matter why...that's not why we're here! We've got to get rid of them!"

"You're right!" Father Marcus said. And Seth somehow felt, knew that the priest had nothing to do with what had happened with Clay. Although the priest was looking at both Kate and he, Seth couldn't read anything threatening in his eyes. He was curious, but it wasn't the kind of curiosity that usually prompted him to shoot the fucker on sight.

The priest didn't talk for a second then he said, "I think that's enough for now, we'll see again this afternoon, in the meantime I'd suggest to take it easy for a few hours. It's been a long trip to come here for most of you"

He didn't need to add anything else. They all knew that they were going to have a hell of a night, so the vampire killers took the priest's word as their clue to leave the basement, at least most of them did...others like Clay and the scarred chick stayed there.

Seth turned toward Kate but had to frown in confusion...when he looked at her: she looked upset. What did he miss? She had looked so comfortable while talking to the priest...and now she was upset. Not that someone might notice it looking at her, on the outside Kate was the very picture of calm...yet, to him it was clear...and he had no idea what was wrong with her!

Kate looked back at him and Seth was about to say something when Father Marcus' voice interrupted them saying, "Jack, Kate...?"

Seth jerked his head to his side to look at the priest...was there someone in that fucking basement who didn't know their names?

"Thanks for being here..." The priest said, "I heard a lot about you..."

Seth was tempted to comment on the man's words, he was even tempted to ignore his hand...but he didn't do that, and he refused to dwell on why he didn't. He shook the priest's hand, and when he did, his suspicions were confirmed: the priest was a real vampire killer. His hand was callouses and there were cuts on his fingers and bruises on his knuckles, telltale signs of fights and training with weapons.

The priest looked at him for a moment then he looked at Kate, he narrowed his eyes and Seth noticed he looked puzzled for a moment. It didn't last long and then he said, "I just wanted you to know that there's room here for you, if you need it"

Staying in a Church...sure, why not? After that he could really grow wings and a halo and being called St. Seth!

He was about to tell the priest where he could shove his offer, when Kate talked and her voice was stern, more than he had ever heard it when she said, "No, thanks. We're fine."

He didn't look at her, not even when she asked the priest where they could park the motor home. He blinked: he was right...Kate was upset...definitely too fucking much.

Father Marcus nodded at her words, then he called Clay, asking him to help them out with the motor home.

Fucking great! Now Clay was going to be officially at their heels...and Kate was freaking out!

Seth was beginning to think that coming to Meadows Lyne and listening to Greg in the first place, had been a huge, fucking mistake!


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: **Thank you guys so much for the reviews! They were so heartwarming! You rock!!!

* * *

_K_ate hadn't said a word ever since they had left the Church.

Not that she was avoiding him, or that she had purposely cut him out...fact was, though, that she hadn't been talking...and the only thing Seth could do, was looking at her like a moron, without having a clue about what to do!

Clay had brought them to another zone of Meadows Lyne, by the lake. They had parked the Motor Home in what not so long ago had probably been a camping but right now, it was just a too wide, exposed, empty parking lot.

Seth sat on the couch, while Kate was taking from another secret compartment -how many of them was she still hiding?- a small crossbow and checked it out, before checking out other weapons, which she had already inspected as soon as they had gotten inside the big bastard.

Seth thought for a moment that he wouldn't mind testing some of those weapons on Clay, or the scarred chick...or even better on Greg, then he shook his head, and focused on Kate

What the hell was wrong with her? What the fuck was he supposed to do? What could he tell her?

And while he was at it: should he tell her something or pretend it was nothing and wait for Kate to calm down?

He narrowed his eyes and better looked at her: Kate had picked her hair up in a bun and had rolled her sweater's sleeves past her elbows when she had started checking and cleaning her weapons. The icy look in her eyes had come back...as thick and impenetrable as fucking Antarctica!

Seth thought for a moment that he had gotten used all too quickly to the other Kate, the one who had fire sparkling in her eyes and passion...and that he hadn't missed the one he was seeing now. Not even for a fucking moment!

He stretched his legs in front of him as he kept looking at her, he had really thought things had gone smoothly all things considered! Kate had looked calm while they had talked about the bloodsuckers!

What happened? He had really believed he had stopped with that emotional roller coaster crap!

She had started freaking out when the priest had gotten closer to them, offering them to stay in the Church.

_Of course!_ He thought as he got on his feet: _ the priest!_

Why the fuck hadn't he gotten it right away? He had taken for granted that being in a Church would be something normal for Kate, natural.

Too much, probably. It had hit a bit too close to home for her.

Kate was leaning against the sink and was cleaning one of her guns.

Maybe he should wait, he thought, maybe he should wait for Kate to get over it, because he knew she would one way or another, or at least she would pretend to.

He had promised he wouldn't run away, though. He had promised he wouldn't leave her alone, ever again.

So he got close to her, he leant against the fridge and casually asked, "You grew up in a Church, didn't you?"

Bullshitting around the issue was useless, he decided.

Kate stopped cleaning the gun, she stood still for a moment, gripping the gun in her hands and then she slowly nodded.

Seth nodded as well, without saying anything. Now fucking what? What he was supposed to tell her?

Damn, he sucked at those kind of things!

"It wasn't a Catholic church ..." She said in a low voice. Kate sighed and for a second Seth was sure she would cry. It didn't happen, of course, because Kate didn't cry, just like him. Kate fought...just like him.

What had he turned her into?

Kate was looking at him, now, she tilted her head on a side for a second, then said, "But yes, I grew up in a Church..." She stopped talking and nibbled at her lower lip for a moment before adding, "I haven't been in one for six years, though..."

Seth blinked in surprise. That couldn't be possible! He looked around, he saw the walls of the motor home, covered with crosses and Kate's words sounded even more absurd...until he realized that among Kate's impressive collection of weapons against vampires there was just one thing missing: Holy water, and then another realization hit him, there were crosses everywhere in the motor home, yet Kate didn't wear any, she didn't even bring one along when she went out patrolling.

Kate put the gun away in the sink and crossed her arms over her chest while she said, "It's not like I've lost my faith, Seth...it's just that getting in a Church hasn't been high in my list of priorities..." She shrugged her shoulders and added in a low voice, "you know? That day...I asked my father if he still believed in God."

Seth stifled his hands in the pockets of his jeans while he thought that she hadn't needed to specify what day she was talking about.

Kate had stopped talking, she walked past him, looking around, she sat on the couch and said, "Dad said he still believed in God, in Jesus...but that he didn't love Them. I can relate to that."

Seth got close to Kate and he wasn't surprised when she made room for him on the couch, without even looking at him. He could almost picture the conversation between Jacob and Kate.

He had known Jacob Fuller just for a few hours, but he had soon learnt to respect him...and eventually to trust him. He had to admit he kind of missed that man. Who would have ever thought he could miss a preacher? A man he had know for a few hours?

Kate distracted him from his musings when she said, "I haven't lost my faith, Seth. Do you remember what you told my father? You said that if there was a hell...and those son of bitches came from it, there had to be a heaven...?"

Seth nodded, surprised. He didn't think Kate still recalled those words, but that wasn't the only reason for his surprise, truth was...that he had lived on them for the past six years. He was surprised because he realized he hadn't lied to Jacob Fuller: his lifetime tune had really changed when his brother had been bitten. It had just taken him a while to get it.

"I still have my faith..." Kate was saying, her voice barely more than a whisper, "but...I miss my family, Seth! I miss my mother...I miss my father...and Scott. I miss what I had...getting in that Church today..." Kate stopped in mid sentence and then swore under her breath as she hugged her knees against her chest, "It still hurts..."

Seth didn't talk at first, he just drooped an arm around her shoulders, thinking that if Kate asked him to start the Motor Home and leave that fucking town being ripped apart by vampires, he would.

Who was he kidding? The fucking truth was that he'd do anything for her.

He blinked, surprised by his thoughts...and the depth of his feelings for the woman in his arms.

He felt Kate circling his waist with an arm and he couldn't help saying in a low voice, "I know, Kate...I know."

If he had been another man, maybe he would have added something else. If he had been another man, he would have told her that it still hurt like a son of a bitch...and that six or sixty years wouldn't make any difference, it would still hurt. It would always hurt.

If he had been another man, he'd have told her that he was sure her father would be proud of her, because she had survived and stayed strong, because she was a fighter ...and that not setting foot into a Church wouldn't change shit, unless she could stop thinking, breathing, recalling...because that was the only way to stop hurting.

He wasn't that kind of man, though, so he didn't talk, he didn't add anything to the few words he had said, yet Kate tilted her head up and looked at him, and in her hazel eyes Seth could read understanding.

Kate knew...she probably felt what he meant to tell her and for a moment her eyes became too bright...so much that he believed she would cry, although he knew that it wasn't going to happen, because Kate...his Kate never cried.

And much as he had expected, she didn't cry, her eyes kept sparkling with unshed tears though, and her voice was low while she asked, "Seth? If things had gone differently...would you have let us go?"

Seth just nodded at her question. Her question didn't really surprise him, he just didn't understand why she was asking him, now. He guessed that was just one of the unsaid things between them bound to come up.

Well one moment was as good as another!

"I gave my word to your father..." He just said.

He didn't add that was just one part of the promise he had made to Jacob Fuller. He had given his word that he would let them go and Kate would be safe.

It wasn't too late, he decided.

It wasn't too late to keep at least one part of his promise to Jacob Fuller.

Kate was looking at him, without talking, she just lightly nodded at his words, apparently satisfied with his answer and Seth weakly smiled before saying, "You should rest, before they come back..."

Kate smiled as well. "Only if you lie down with me." He said and, for a moment, there was fire again, sparkling in her eyes.

"Sounds like a plan" He said, shrugging his shoulders.

Silence fell between them...and it was warm and comfortable as they wordlessly opened up the bed and slid under the covers. What had happened that morning, the words they had said just a few minutes before seemed so far, now.

There weren't words, not even when Kate rested her head against his chest and her hands sneaked underneath his sweater and touched the bare skin of his stomach.

He looked at her: she had closed her eyes, and he didn't even realize that he had been smiling, until he felt it fade from his lips. He tilted his head up to look outside and he wasn't surprised when he saw a car, parked not far away from the motor home.

There was still some asshole, maybe Clay, who was spying on them.

It wasn't too late, he thought, to keep the promise he had made to Jacob Fuller.

He would protect Kate...from vampires and vampires killers.

At any cost.


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N:** I'm so sorry for the long wait, guys! School's been a pain! Thanks for the reviews and the support! Vee, FemmePhantom, StrangelittleSwirl, Bammed...you all rock! Hope you like the new part;)

* * *

_M_eadows Lyne was creeping her out.

It was morning and yet it was gray and gloomy. She hadn't seen many people around and most of the stores were closed. Meadows Lyne looked like a fucking dead town.

Kate tightened her coat around her slender frame while she entered the umpteenth building, an old abandoned warehouse, together with the other vampire killers of the group she had been assigned to.

Seth hadn't woken her up until Clay had come to drive them to the Church where the vampire killers had been split in groups to take sweeps around the town.

Seth and she had been assigned to different groups, they had both understood right away that trying not to be separated would be useless...it would only increase the level of attention on them. And neither of them wanted that.

She looked around: the warehouse looked like it had come out from a heavy metal music video straight from the eighties, there were even chains hanging out from steel beams and piles of boxes and barrels piled up against the filthy walls. There weren't any traces of vampires, yet she strengthened her hold on the stake she was holding in her right hand and her left hand went to the waistband of her jeans and fingered her gun.

Maybe she was so nervous because Seth wasn't there, she thought. Ever since they had crossed paths again they had never been apart, and the fact that he wasn't there watching her back was putting her on edge.

She didn't know or trust the vampire killers who were with her in the warehouse and she didn't trust the ones of Seth's group...especially because Clay was there too.

She didn't trust Clay Winston any more than Seth did...and she didn't like thinking about the fact that they were now alone...she didn't like it that she wasn't there with him, to watch his back.

She stopped walking, dead on her tracks, when she heard footsteps behind her, and her left hand went immediately to the hilt of her gun, her fingers tightening around it.

She couldn't explain why she knew, felt who was behind her: she was sure it was the vampire killer from Seattle, the scarred woman who had been next to Clay and had kept looking at Seth and she while they had been in the Church.

She turned and just like she had suspected the woman was in front of her, gripping a stake in her right hand. She was smiling, but Kate didn't like that smile, somehow it looked unnatural on her face, it was too cold...too mechanic, even for her, who for a long time had forgotten how to smile.

"You must be Chris, right?" Kate asked. She had heard someone calling her name in the Church...mostly with awe and respect.

The woman nodded and looked around before saying, "Looks like we're wasting our time here..."

"I couldn't agree more" Kate said, and she wasn't surprised when she realized that she hadn't lessened her grip on her stake, on the contrary she had strengthened it, so much that her knuckles were now white.

She looked for a second at the other vampire killers in the warehouse: there were ten of them, a local vampire killer had escorted them. They were all inspecting the place, everyone except for Chris, who had thought to come and talk to her.

Why?

"And you're Kate, right?" Chris asked.

Kate arched an eyebrow at her. She had been surprised by how many vampire killers in the Church had known about their arrival to Meadows Lyne and had known their names.

Not to mention that Chris had been sitting next to Clay, watching them closely.

Kate started walking again, nodding at Chris: she didn't want to pretend that there could be any camaraderie between them just because they might fight together that night.

Even more so because she felt deep within that Clay had told her all about their meeting of that morning. It was a gut feeling she couldn't ignore.

It looked like Chris wasn't giving up on her, because she was immediately by her side and Kate was tempted to sock her. She inwardly rolled her eyes wondering when, exactly, she had started to solve all of her problems with violence, before she could find an answer, Chris said, "I heard a lot about you, you know? I thought you were taller!"

Kate stopped walking and looked at her, surprised: what the fuck did she want with her?

She didn't talk, waiting for Chris to go on talking, because it was clear she wanted to. She didn't have to wait long because Chris causally asked, "How long..."

"Six years" Kate answered, interrupting her. She had seen that question coming from a mile away, all vampire killers asked that question...and for the life of her she didn't get why all the vampire killers she had met over the years felt the urge to know and share details of each other's lives. She didn't make conversation, she didn't share details. Her past was her own fucking business!

Except for Seth no one knew about the Titty Twister and about her family, and she hadn't been surprised when she had found out that Seth had kept his mouth shut about it as well.

"My God..." Chris said and Kate noticed how throaty the woman's voice was and how icy the look in her eyes was even while she said, "You were just a kid when you began.."

She had gotten used to that kind of remark about her age, and her answer was the same she had given to other vampire killers through the years, a simple, laconic, "Yep..."

Why did she suddenly want to channel her inner Seth and beat the crap out of her?

If Chris had noticed her hostility she didn't care, because her full lips stretched in a smile before she asked, "And how long Jack and you have been together?"

Kate blinked. Alright she hadn't seen that one coming! That was a first!

She took a step toward Chris and said between clenched teeth, "We're not together!"

It's was Chris' turn to blink, but she didn't talk.

She hadn't meant to deny what there was between Seth and she...truth was she hadn't been expecting that kind of question...and besides, Kate didn't know for sure what, exactly, Seth and she had!

They had never talked about their relationship, they hadn't talked about feelings...or future. Fuck, they hadn't even covered their past...they quite sucked at those kind of things! It wasn't what they were!

She didn't even know for sure what Seth felt for her.

She just knew that he was making her happy, happier than she had ever been, she just knew that sleeping in his arms was keeping nightmares and the voice talking in them at bay.

She just knew that he had the power to let fire flow through her veins instead of ice and tears she couldn't shed.

She just knew that he had told her that he wouldn't leave...and she believed him.

She knew that she loved him...and it was enough for her.

Maybe Chris had gotten that she had pushed her prying too far, because she shrugged her shoulders and said, "Sorry, it's none of my business!"

She stopped talking and took a step toward her, shortening the distance between them, while she added in a low voice, "It would be my business, though, if you freaked out while on patrol here...especially if I'm around...or one of my people is..."

Images of what had happened in that alley, four days before, filled Kate's mind. It had happened: she had freaked out on patrol, and she was aware that it had been just luck if there hadn't been any consequences, just like she knew that it didn't matter how much she wanted to keep it together, it might happen again. Yet her voice was cold while said, "I'm not an amateur..."

Chris smiled again and Kate couldn't help thinking about how unnatural that smile looked...it wasn't that different from the masks of flesh and blood vampires used to conceal their demons.

"I never said that." Chris said. "But you know what happens to vampire killers who are together, don't you?"

Kate nodded. "I know" She said.

As much as she had refused the vampire killers' underground world, as much as she refused to be part of it, she had seen what it could happen to vampire killers who were together...and even if she hadn't seen it first hand, it wouldn't take a genius to figure it out.

She still recalled the nightmare she had had a few days before; she could still feel the heartache, the hot shreds of despair leaving her breathless at the thought of Seth being bitten, she could still see the blood oozing out from the wound on his neck.

"No, you don't!" Chris said and the tone of her voice was harsh, interrupting her train of thoughts when she added, "Not until you live through it!"

For a moment there weren't traces of coldness and hostility in Chris' eyes, just pain and rage...and regret, her voice still kept traces of those feelings while she said, "You must make choices, Kate. You have to...even if it kills you"

Kate put her hands on her hips: who the hell did she think she was...a fucking amateur? Did she think she had just pretended to go vampire hunting for the past six years?

"Do you think I don't know that?" Kate asked, and she couldn't help raising her voice, so much that she got looks from two vampire killers who were nearby.

She ignored their glares and focused on Chris who, unlike her, looked calm. Kate could almost see Scott's body exploding and his blood splashing all over the Titty Twister, while she said between clenched teeth, "I know what it needs to be done, Chris..."

She didn't add that she had learnt it from personal experience, she had never told anyone and sure as hell she wasn't about to start now, with that woman!

"Of course you do, Kate" Chris said breaking her train of thoughts before it led her to examine the truth in what she had said. Would she really do what it needed to be done with Seth? Would she?

Chris slightly shrugged her shoulders and added, "And I'm sure you have nothing to worry about Jack...I heard he's the real deal"

Chris didn't talk for a moment and then she casually asked, "Speaking of which...what about him?"

Kate shook her head, frowning while she said, "What do you mean?"

"Think he'd do that to you? Would he do what it needs to be done?" Chris asked and there was still something too fucking casual in her voice, too smooth...and Kate didn't like it.

Yet she couldn't help smiling at her words, although it hurt her. "You said it, Chris: he's the real deal"

She had seen Seth killing the only person he'd given a shit about six years before: Richie. She had watched in horror as he rammed a stake through his heart, although he had been protecting him, until a few seconds before, he had done what it needed to be done.

"That wouldn't be a problem for him..." She added in a low voice.

It hurt her saying those words...but at the same time it was oddly comforting.

Chris loudly sighed, interrupting her musings and said, "It's good to know...you know what sucks about the whole thing, Kate? It doesn't matter how quick you are...sometimes you just don't have enough time! Sometimes it just takes a few seconds to those fucks ..."

Kate nodded, Chris was right: there weren't rules about how long it would take to become a vampire, sometimes it took hours after being bitten...or minutes, sometimes though...it just took a few seconds.

"Yep..." She said, "that sucks..."

Chris looked around, then took a pack of cigarettes from her coat's pocket and lit one before saying, "I've always believed it mostly depends on the kind of person you're before being bitten..."

Chris started walking, she got close to the stairs that led to the upper floor of the warehouse and said, "Sometimes I wonder how long it would take to one of us..."

Kate took a step toward her and was surprised by how stern her voice sounded when she said, "I don't think it'll take long to find out, we're not all going to make it tonight, you know?"

For a moment Kate saw something sparkling in Chris eyes: fear, or maybe regret, it didn't last long and the woman threw the cigarette on the floor grinding it beneath her boot, while she said, "That's why I gave up on the whole thing, Kate...you can't have it all!"

There was something deliberately studied in the way Chris tilted her head down to look at her left hand, she wanted Kate to notice the thin silver band on her left ring finger, she then looked at her and said, "I'm sorry, Kate. I didn't want to pry...it's just I've seen too many missions being screwed up...and this one is too important."

Kate couldn't look away from Chris, especially when Chris said, "Take it from someone who's been in this world longer than you, Kate...there's no room for love in our lives, it fucks us up!"

"Who talked about love?" Later she'd have kicked herself for being so naive, yet in that moment it was the only thing she could come up with.

Chris slightly smiled at her words before saying, "I think you just did..."

She left her while those words still hovered over them, she nodded at her before she climbed up the stairs.

Kate ran a hand through her hair, while she tried to shake Chris' words away. She joined the other vampire killers and focused on searching the warehouse, yet she kept coming back with her mind to Chris' words...and they ended up mingling with Seth's while he had told her that he wasn't going to go away, that he wouldn't leave her.

_What I know is that I don't wanna become as one of those fucks!_

Her hold on the stake became almost painful when the words Seth had said in a dream she had had, echoed through her mind, she heard them again, almost as if he had just said them, almost as if it hadn't been a dream...maybe because she knew that would be Seth's reaction should something like that ever happen.

She blinked, trying to focus on the mission, on what she had to do, but to no avail.

For three days she had awoken in Seth's arms and had lived in a world without shadows, without pain, without dangers...but Chris was right: they couldn't have it all.

_…__I would never make you do what needs to be done. __I'm quick, Kate. __I'd do it myself. I'd never fuck you up like this!_

Seth had told her he wouldn't leave...and she believed him, she wanted to...but she knew that it could happen anyway, whether they wanted it or not...at least until they kept killing vampires.

_One day one of those bastards will kill us…and maybe we won't be swift enough to blow our brains out before becoming like them…_

Kate swallowed, thinking back at the conversation she had had with Seth a few days before...when she had still thought she could keep her feelings under control, when there had still been ice flowing in her veins and she had had walls around her heart.

She had heard her father's body exploding six years before...and she had kept fighting, she had killed her own brother, she had looked at Scott and had pulled the trigger ...and had somehow survived to it.

She had played it cool with Chris about doing what it needed to be done, but truth was she didn't want to dwell on it. She couldn't afford that luxury. And she didn't want to think about what she had said about the nature of the person being bitten, and the role it played in how long it took for them to become vampires.

Yet she couldn't help it. Her father had lasted almost a hour before becoming a demon, a monster.

Her heart begun furiously pumping in her chest when she recalled Frost, the guy who had killed a whole fucking lot of people in Vietnam...and had smashed Sex Machine against a window...it had taken him just a few minutes to turn into a vampire.

How long it would take for Seth? How long it would take for her?

She thought about Seth, about the way he had put himself between Clay and she that morning, shielding her. She doubted he had even noticed that, just like she doubted he had realized the way he held her after they made love.

Yes, she had played it definitely too fucking cool with Chris and she couldn't help wondering what would really happen if either Seth or she were ever bitten.

Would they had the guts and the time to do what it needed to be done? Or would they be forced to fight against each other?

* * *

_K_illing them would be easy. Killing those fuckers would solve all of his problems.

Seth had had enough of the looks he'd been getting, he'd enough of being spied on.

He couldn't help thinking while inspecting the umpteenth abandoned building – how many fucking abandoned buildings that town had , anyway? - that once, not even so long ago those vampire killers would be already pushing daisies.

It would be so fucking easy killing them...and even easier for him to disappear right after that, he would just get swallowed by the criminal's underground world never to be seen again.

It was the easiest way out...then why hadn't he shot the fuckers yet?

Seth looked around, while he walked down one of the the dark, smelly hallways of the building

Kate…

If those fuckers still breathed it was because of Kate.

Not that he suddenly cared about what the girl might think of him...Kate knew all too well who he really was. She was supposed to hate him...instead she loved him.

And vampire killers were aware of that. What would happen to Kate if he followed his instinct? What would be of her if he disappeared, leaving behind him just a trail of blood and vampire killers' bodies?

Oh, and there was the little, tiny detail that he had promised he wouldn't leave her, of course!

So he was bearing those looks...and their curiosity...and he was doing that for Kate, to protect her.

It had been natural protecting Richie...putting him before anyone else, even before himself and his safety.

Richie had been his baby brother, his whole family. It had always been the two of them against the world.

Never had he allowed another human being to be that important to him.

Things with Kate were different and he still wasn't used to the depth of his feelings for her.

He stopped walking and immediately took his gun from his waistband, cocking it, when he heard footsteps behind him and a moment later he heard Clay saying, "The third floor is clear...what about here?"

"It fucking smells but it's clear" Seth said turning toward the man.

He hadn't been surprised when he had found out he had been assigned to Clay's group, on the contrary it was what he had expected.

"Let's check the fifth floor, then..." Clay said, and Seth noticed that he was trying to sound friendly, almost as if he hadn't aimed a gun at him that very morning.

The tone of his voice might sound friendly...he was even smiling at him, but the look in his eyes was still cold...and hard.

The walked together, side by side and yet Clay towered over him: he was tall, well built, and Seth noticed he was holding his gun, like a pro.

They didn't talk while they climbed up the stairs of the old, abandoned building and Seth couldn't help thinking that they were just wasting their time, there weren't vampires in that building...not even a trace of their presence, not even that sickening smell that usually filled the places where they nested.

He was about to tell Clay, when the man casually asked, "You've been fighting for a long time?"

_Oh, _he thought, _we're starting with the small talk, now?_

"Six years" He answered, hoping that his tone of voice gave him a clue that he didn't want to go on with that conversation.

He didn't want to talk about his past, he never did...and he wasn't going to start with Clay!

They walked for a few minutes in silence, they had stopped in front of one of the apartments to search it when Clay asked, "You've been with Kate for a long time?"

Seth turned to look at the man, creasing his brow. He didn't talk at first and when he opened his mouth to tell him that it was none of his fucking business, Clay softly said, "Meghan, my daughter...she'd be about Kate's age...hadn't it been for vampires"

So, vampires had fucked up his life...was he supposed to care? Did he think he was the only one?

And why did vampire killers feel the urge to share their stories?

Clay though, surprised him saying, "How old is Kate? Nineteen? Twenty?"

"She's twenty two" Seth hissed. He didn't like the way Clay had asked that question...he didn't like the tone of his voice while he had asked him about Kate's age and he hated the way he had looked at him, as if he was some kind of creep.

"Meghan was twelve" Clay said, breaking his train of thoughts, "It was our first holiday together after the divorce" Clay shrugged and dryly added, "Well, you can imagine what happened...or else I wouldn't be here."

Seth nodded, relieved that he had been spared the morbid details. Who the fuck cared? Besides all the stories he had heard, were invariably the same and vampire killers were always disappointed when he didn't volunteer to share his.

No one knew about Richie and the Titty Twister.

"Your Kate...is a good girl..." Clay said and Seth looked at him tilting his head on a side. He got closer to the man, meaning to definitively shut him up, but Clay stopped him, when he said, "Maybe you can protect her from vampires...I hear you're good at killing them, but can you protect her from yourself?"

Seth blinked, unable to do anything else, and for a moment flashes of his nightmares, the ones where his vampire self used a lash on Kate over and over filled his mind, while Clay's words still seemed to vibrate around them.

"I'm a cop, Jack...I deal with guys like you every fucking day!" Clay said, shattering with his words the images from his dreams and the words he had previously said.

Great! Just fucking great!

He had been so busy living in his little dreamworld for the past few days that he had been face to face with that man without getting that he was a cop!

A fucking cop!

Once he'd have gotten that he was a cop right away! It'd have taken just a look!

Nothing showed on his face and on his voice, though, when he asked, "Guys like me?"

Clay smirked and Seth wondered whether it was the same kind of smirk he used on suspects before nailing their asses.

"Listen up, Buddy...let's cut to the chase, alright? I don't like you! I don't know what you did before you started killing bloodsuckers, I don't know why you do and I don't give a fuck about it! What I know is that if Kate was my daughter I'd keep her away from you! You're trouble, Jack!"

Seth wasn't even aware of how strongly he was gripping his gun while Clay had been talking until he felt his hand tingling.

He blinked again, while he slowly lessened his hold on the gun.

Under any normal circumstance, the man in front of him would already be dead meat. Under any normal circumstance, his trusty 44 would lack a bullet and Clay would be learning how to breathe from his forehead.

But there wasn't anything remotely normal in the circumstance: first, they weren't alone...there were at least a dozen vampire killers in the building and outside, all of them armed to the hilt.

He could kill them all, that wouldn't be a big deal...and then what? What would be of Kate? How would she pay for his actions?

So he didn't do anything, he just looked at Clay and couldn't help feeling as if the man had just read right through his mind. How many times ever since he had knelt behind Kate to tend her wounds and had noticed the scars on her back, he had wondered how could he protect her from himself?

He still wanted to shot Clay, his finger was still itching to pull the trigger and wipe that fucking smirk out of his face...but he didn't do that.

Why when Kate was involved he couldn't be a fucking bastard not even if his life depended on it?

Clay didn't add anything, he didn't even wait for him to say anything, he seemed to feel that he wasn't in immediate danger, because he turned when he heard footsteps coming from the stairs behind them, Seth blinked when he saw a man approaching them.

_Can this get any worse? _He thought, then he took a step toward Clay and hissed, "You don't know what the fuck you're talking about!"

Clay arched an eyebrow at his words, but he didn't look at him, he was looking at the man and nodded his greetings when he stopped in front of them, then as an afterthought he said, "Maybe you're right, Jack...but think about that: if you had a daughter would you let her anywhere near someone like you?"

"I don't have kids!" Seth replied and he knew that he hadn't really answered to Clay's question. What could he tell him? If he'd a daughter he would kill a fucker like him on sight, if he only dared to look at her.

Yet he couldn't help thinking about Jacob Fuller, who had probably been the best person he had ever known, he had fought until the bitter end for his family, for his kids...and he had trusted him. He had fucking believed him when he had given his word Kate would be safe.

Clay was looking at his gun now, and he wasn't smirking any more, on the contrary his face was dead serious as he said, "She's just a girl...this isn't the kind of life for her..."

Seth would have probably smiled at Clay's words if they hadn't been so fucking true...except that for one detail: Clay didn't know Kate, he was underestimating her strength and the passion she put in what she did.

He didn't know...he couldn't even imagine that Kate Fuller had once killed a big vampire that had turned into a fucking rat...the fucking rat that had bit her father and that there had been icy calm in her eyes as she had fired her crossbow.

He didn't know that she'd been taken hostage by two murderers and that she had survived the ordeal, gaining their respect.

She was just a girl, that much was true, but she was a fighter, a warrior.

She was a fucking warrior who fought vampires because it was the right thing to do, because those fuckers came from hell, they were pure evil...so if they existed there had to be a heaven somewhere.

Kate didn't fight vampires to seek revenge, like many vampire killers did or not to crazy, like he did...she fought out of faith

"She chose this life" Seth said, "we all did..."

Clay looked at him. "I know!" He said, "What I really wonder, though, is whether it was really her choice...you know? I heard stories about her...about both of you, actually. "

Seth creased his brow, confused. Why was that patrol turning into a heavy handed attempt to make him feel like shit about Kate? First there had been those questions about Kate's age...and then her supposed frailty.

What next? What the fuck did Clay want? What was his goddamned problem?

He was about to ask him, when the other man, tall with red hair and blue eyes, who had been silent throughout the exchange said, "Who didn't? I was in Mexico four years ago and they were all talking about Kate! And what you did in Mexico City? Man...that took balls!"

The man, whose name if he recalled correctly was Pat, looked sincerely in awe telling those things, but Seth didn't much care...what had perked his interest were the hints about Kate. Seth had only started hearing about her a couple of years before and it had happened by accident.

She had shared things of her past with him, told him about fights and vampires she had killed, yet Seth was curious.

"Take what happened in her motor home, for example..." Clay said, interrupting the man who was still talking about the stories he had heard about them.

Clay looked at Seth and he lightly narrowed his eyes and Seth didn't have troubles in guessing what he was talking about.

He...he had created that story...and he touched it, whenever he touched the scars on Kate's back, and although she didn't remember a lot about what had happened that night and she didn't like talking about the few things she recalled, he could read it in her eyes.

And yet...before he saw the scars on her back, although he had heard rumors about Kate, he had never known about that story.

"It's a classic, isn't it?" Clay was saying and Seth wondered if the man had any idea of how close he was in that very moment to have his head blown off.

He was surprised when meeting Clay's eyes he realized that the cop knew...and he didn't care.

Pat, his groupie, said, "I heard that she doesn't remember how she got free..." The man stopped talking and Seth saw anticipation in his eyes, even before that he could hear it in his voice when he asked, "Did she tell you?"

Seth just shook his head no and Pat looked disappointed at his reaction, but before he could ask any more questions his cell phone rang and the man excused himself and left the hallway leaving him alone with Clay.

Seth could hear the man's steps behind him and he looked around, noticing that Clay was doing the same. For a moment it looked like Clay was deep in thought, then he stuck his hands in his coat's pockets and asked, "She really doesn't remember how she managed to free herself, does she?" He didn't wait for him to talk, he lightly nodded his head and added, "maybe it's better this way...for her, I mean"

Clay turned his head to look at him, and for the first time in longer than he cared to remember, Seth felt panic: it exploded inside of him...deafening him for a moment, while he held Clay's look and part of him just wished for him to shut the fuck up.

Of course he wouldn't shut up, because Clay didn't like bullshitting around the issues, because he was a cop and because he wanted to fuck with his mind.

He was going to tell the truth...whatever it was, for God knew what reason...and Seth wasn't sure he wanted to hear it.

"You know?" Clay said, "I've been to Mexico too...and while there, I heard all the rumors about Kate...about what happened in her motor home...but unlike Pat I've heard another version of that story..."

Panic. It was roaring inside of him, forcing him to frantically grip the hilt of his gun.

Clay was observing him, waiting for his reaction...but he wasn't going to have any, because Seth knew that his body wasn't giving anything away of his inner turmoil.

Clay took another moment before talking and when he did, his voice was low: "It goes without saying that Kate is the only one who knows the truth...but I heard that those vampires didn't want to bite her. I heard they did a number on her...they wanted payback, they wanted to mark her...and they did..."

Rage, hot, blinding...it was burning inside of him, swallowing his panic up...swallowing everything else on its path.

Yet he didn't talk, he didn't move...didn't react to Clay's words.

They were alone...in a fucking filthy hallway. He could kill him...he should. The cop was supposed to be bleeding to death right now...for what he had said, for how he'd been using Kate and what they had to try and fuck his mind.

Because he was succeeding and he was letting him...and because the cop knew about him.

Clay knew about his past, he could see it in his eyes.

He should kill the cop...he was sure that if he did, it would make wonders for his rage, it would stop burning so fucking much inside of him.

He couldn't kill the son of a bitch...because if Clay knew about him, there was the chance that others did as well.

How many? And what would be of Kate?

He loosened his grip on the gun, while he told Clay he wanted to check on another floor before leaving.

Rage.

He had to forget the rage...for a few hours, at least until dusk.

They were going to fight that night, there would be plenty of time to recall that rage and use it.

Vampires...blood...confusion...cries...in that scenario, so familiar to all of them, no one was going to notice a broken neck, not even Clay's.

Before that happened, though, he had to find out who else knew about him...and what had really happened to Kate.

Not necessarily in that order!


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N:** Thank you guys for the reviews... I'm so much behind with answering to emails, pm and reading stories! I'm a bit stuck with translating a paragraph...but I'm still working on it:)

**Strangelittleswirl and Bammed7: **you both rock my world, I'm glad you're still sticking to the story:)

* * *

_S_he was tired.

They had inspected warehouses and abandoned buildings for hours...an uneventful patrol which had led them just to a couple of vampires...among the lamest she had ever seen.

She had spent hours uselessly walking around in that creepy town, her senses on hyper alert against any possible threat. She had spent hours trying to stay as far away as possible from Chris...and she was now exhausted. If she was that tired now, what would happen after dusk, when the real fight began? Yet, she couldn't rest...her mind kept going back at Chris and their conversation.

Now that she was alone, in the familiar setting of her motor home, sitting on the bed, she could afford the luxury of re examining the conversation she had had with the woman. It had been strange, that was for sure...Chris had been blunt...and behind every question, every subject she had approached there had been Seth...and their relationship.

What the fuck was her problem?

She ground her teeth in frustration, while she looked around, thinking about Seth: he still wasn't back from his patrol with Clay's team, and she was trying her best to ignore the restlessness that she could feel stirring inside of her. She shook her head trying to focus on something, anything that could distract her from that feeling.

She couldn't help smiling when she noticed that after just a few days of living with Seth, the motor home - or the big bastard, as Seth always called it - showed signs of his presence everywhere . She knew, without even needing to look, that there were two empty mugs in the sink. She knew that in the tiny bathroom, next to her things there were Seth's razor, his shave foam and his toothbrush.

From where she was standing she could catch a glimpse of Seth's backpack hidden between the fridge and the sink and right beside her, on the bed, there was one of his black sweaters.

But she realized that it was more than that, that motor home had been fucking silent for six years, it had just been the place where she had slept, the dead womb where she had had her nightmares, the secret casket of the voice that had spoken in them, haunting her, it had just been the place where she, alone, had planned strategies against vampires.

There was life in that motor home, now...and even the distant echoes of what had happened there, the night after she had escaped the Titty Twister, had been eclipsed in her mind by the sound of Seth's laughter or the sound of his heartbeat that she loved to listen to, when she was in his arms, after they made love.

That place was **home**...at last.

And she hated that Chris's words and the restlessness they had stirred in her were threatening it...much as she hated the fact that Seth hadn't come back, yet.

She hated that he hadn't come back to her.

She almost started when she heard the noise of a car parking outside, in that huge, empty space. She got close to the window and saw a beige van from which Seth got out a moment later.

There wasn't just restlessness curling around her heart...but fear as well, now...it just took a look at Seth to understand that he was furious...but what made her heart beat faster in her chest was the fact that Seth looked worried about something.

What the hell was going on? She sighed while Seth got into the motor home and he looked at her, frowning while he took off his coat and rested it on the passenger's seat.

"How did it go?" Kate asked.

Seth snorted while he got close to her and said, "We didn't find anything...but maybe it was because our guide, Clay, was too busy... "

"Being a pain in the ass and prying?" She finished for him. Although she hoped she might be wrong, she felt she wasn't, because Clay and Chris had been together in the Church, both that morning and when they had come back there a few hours before. And she had stopped believing in coincidences a long time ago.

Seth nodded, confirming her suspicions, and looked at her. He still hadn't sat next to her on the bed, and he still looked worried yet he just said, "You too, uh?"

Seth opened the fridge and took a couple of beers from it, he uncapped them and then took a few steps toward her handing her one, she accepted it without talking, and she couldn't help smiling a little, surprised, as it had often happened for the past few days, when she noticed how at ease Seth looked in that motor home. She hadn't been wrong...that place really felt like home.

Finally Seth sat next to her on the bed and took a sip from his bottle before saying, "The bastard is a cop and he knows about me!"

Kate felt her smile dying on her lips and her world, the feeling of belonging and peacefulness she had experienced for the past three days crumble down all around her, yet her voice was calm, steady while she asked, "Are you sure about that?"

Seth nodded, he didn't look particularly concerned about what he had just said, there was still anger and worry in his eyes, but Kate knew somehow, that it had nothing to do with what he had just told her. Seth didn't look concerned about himself...he had said those words matter-of-factly.

She...well, she was worried alright!

How the fuck could it happen? How could Clay know? And why was Seth so cool about it?

They were too fucking close to the United States...and Seth looked like he didn't give a damn about it!

She sighed before saying, "If we leave now, they won't notice...the town is empty, let's just take a car, drive to the nearest town and..."

"Not a chance!" Seth said sharply. He jerked up from the bed and looked at her...and there was genuine surprise in his eyes...and anger, so strong that it was coming to her in waves, now.

"But Seth!" She exclaimed, "If Clay knows about you, there's a chance other may as well! There are too many Americans among them..."

Seth rested his bottle on the sink and said, "You're right, but they don't give a fuck about what I used to do...they're just here to kill blood suckers."

Kate hadn't missed the fact that Seth had talked about his criminal activities using the past tense: the man he used to be, the thief, the killer versus the man he had become, the vampire killer who saved lives.

His father would say that God worked in mysterious ways.

"Whereas Clay does?"

Seth nodded, "He's a cop, Kate...you bet he does! He all but said it out loud."

Kate frowned. She was worried by Seth's words and even more so by his voice: it was unnaturally calm while saying them.

But it wasn't just that...

She was surprised. She didn't know much about vampire killers' rules, she had never cared about them...but there was just one she had always appreciated: the basic unwritten rule according to which the past didn't matter. Vampire killers never asked questions about the past. They loved sharing stories of why they became vampire killers, they all had that morbid curiosity about each other, but they never, ever asked about the past.

It was almost as if their lives really begun when they started fighting vampires, because what it really mattered to all of them was the fight.

It was one of the few things she loved about the underground world she lived in. Why had the rules changed? What did they know about Seth?

She got up from the bed and got close to Seth and, once again, Chris' words in that warehouse echoed in her mind and their meaning was even more sinister now, after what Seth had just told her. She knew why Chris had tried to fuck with her mind and right now she couldn't help fearing about what Clay might have told Seth.

She rested her bottle next to Seth's and said, "We can't stay here...Chris' probably know as well, if we leave now..."

"No!" Seth exclaimed, "Skipping town wouldn't change shit, Kate! It's me they are up against...just stay out of this!"

Kate blinked: was he out of his mind?

"Like hell!" She said.

Seth who had made a point not to look at her ever since he had gotten up from the bed, jerked his head on her side, transfixing her with his eyes and the fear she could read in them.

She didn't think she would live enough to see fear in Seth's eyes...and yet, here she was and he was afraid...for her!

"Do you remember what I am, Kate? Do you remember **who **I am?"

Kate tilted her head on a side, locking gazes with him: it was so simple right now to see the fear in his eyes...for her, for her safety.

What the hell did Clay tell him to scare him like that?

"I do..." She said, "You pointed at gun at my face when we met, you grabbed my arm...so tightly that it felt numb afterwards! Oh, and you threatened to shoot my father in the face if..."

Seth shook his head, "No, Kate, you don't! You have no idea about what I did...you don't fucking know me!" He got close to her, his voice low and menacing as he said, "I am a thief. I am a killer."

He smiled and then lightly shook his head before asking, "What the fuck are you still doing here? Is that what you want?"

Kate looked at Seth's words, incredulity marring her brows. She took a step back but stopped when her legs touched the bed.

Where did those words come from? There was such tiredness and defeat in his words and on his face that she could hardly recognize the man in front of her.

She had seen something similar on Seth's face and his words, only once... at the Titty Twister, when he had kept downing shot after shot of whiskey after staking Richie...and just like that night his body, his whole demeanor, was exuding rage...and sorrow.

_I'm sorry I fucked things up, Richie..._

Not even a few hours before Seth had looked bigger than life...but it was more than that, Seth had looked happy, at peace...and his past had been but a shadow, that it had had nothing to do with what they had together.

"Yes," She said, "It's what I want!"

The vehemence she could hear in her own voice surprised Kate, but then again what did Seth expect from her, that she kicked him out of her life? And to do what, exactly? To go back and being a fucking zombie that went through the motions, killing ugly fucks until one of them got lucky?

Seth was looking at her and he looked surprised. He was actually surprised that she had told him that she wanted to be with him. He looked incredulous that she didn't care about his past.

It was official: Seth was freaking out!

"Kate..." He started.

"You are a thief" Kate slowly said, interrupting him, "and you're a killer, I thought we had that part covered...but you're more than that, Seth..."

She stopped talking and thought about her father and, for the first time for the past six years, she thought about the months, the weeks before he died, she thought about the light she had seen fading out from his eyes.

She had seen her father withering inside...she had seen him losing his faith in everything and she recalled how that feeling had been his constant companion, it had marred every word he had said, every gesture, every moment...until that night at the Titty Twister, when he had found his faith back and it had been so strong, so powerful that he had been able to fight dozens of demons, including his own, the motherfucker who had killed of him when Sex Machine had bit him.

"You gave back Faith to my father, Seth...it was you" She said.

Seth blinked his eyes, once twice while she got close to him, closing the distance between them. She stretched a hand to touch him, but he blocked her by resting his hands on her shoulders, putting some distance between them and although his movements were gentle, the way he moved away from her, hurt her...almost as if he had pushed her away.

Kate ran a hand through her hair: why was she under the impression that Clay had done a number on Seth and the fact that the cop knew about his past had just been the icing on the cake?

And why did Seth allow him to fuck with him?

"Seth…" She started..

Seth, though, interrupted her saying, "Your father is dead because of me, Kate! Scott is dead because of me! Those fucking scars on your back are my fault! What they did to you in Mexico happened because I fucked up!"

Kate sighed. She wasn't ready to have that conversation, she didn't want to talk about her family, and sure as hell she didn't want to talk about what had happened in Mexico, and she didn't understand why Seth wanted! Self-blame was not his thing!

"What are you talking about?" She asked, "What's all of this has got to do with Mexico?"

Seth was furious, now...and he was furious at himself, mostly, and Kate was starting to get what Clay had been using to mess with Seth's head.

He had used her.

"You were alone that night..." Seth said.

"Yes..." Kate replied, "because **I **fucked up and fell asleep and I was still too close to the Titty Twister, but Seth, this has nothing to do..."

Seth ignored and went on saying, "What they did to you..."

"I don't know what _he_ did to me!" She shouted, and was oblivious of the slip of her tongue, so she didn't notice the way Seth looked at her. She just knew that she didn't want to talk about that story and she didn't want Seth to keep bringing it up.

She didn't want to remember. And besides, recalling what had happened wouldn't change the decisions she had made every day after that night.

And it couldn't change what she felt for Seth.

"You said..." Seth started.

Kate interrupted him, she didn't raise her voice, she could hear though, how stern, how hard it was while she said, "I remember what I said...and it's the truth, Seth! I don't remember what happened, I don't know!"

She tried to meet his eyes but Seth tilted his head down, refusing to meet hers, and suddenly she felt that Seth knew things about that night...things that she herself didn't know. She suspected that someone, probably Clay, had told him something about that night and it had had the power to freak him out.

She was too tired to put up with the crap Clay had been throwing at them! For a moment she just didn't have the strength to do anything...she just closed her eyes, blocking images that immediately started to form behind her closed lids, images of her screaming, images red with blood and pain.

She jerked her eyes open and met Seth's gaze, she smiled a little and said, "I mean it, Seth...I don't remember what happened that night...and anyway it's not your fault!"

Seth bitterly smiled at her words, he took some steps and sat on the bed. Neither of them spoke for a moment and then Seth said in a low voice, "You were right...I didn't have to leave you alone. I had to take you with me..."

Kate sighed, she thought that they had dealt with that issue, she thought it belonged to the past, to her it did...

Seth, though, seemed to think otherwise.

"I was supposed to protect you" Seth continued.

Kate shook her head, she knelt in front of him, thinking of how surreal that conversation was getting, even for the kind of life they led.

Seth didn't know, he couldn't know...that maybe, in a way, he had protected her...she had survived for six years following the few basic rules he had taught her at the Titty Twister. She had survived, she had wanted to survive...because part of her had hoped their paths crossed again.

She opened her mouth to tell him, she wanted, needed to tell him that whatever had happened to her that night, in the motor home, didn't matter any more...and that none of them could ever imagine, at the time, what would happen, but she shut it, her throat suddenly dry when Seth, without looking at her said, "I had given my word to your father..."

Kate shook her head, she was so surprised by Seth's words that, for a moment, she couldn't utter a sound. She was deafened by her heart beating wildly against her chest and she had to keep swallowing, feeling the salty taste of tears in the back of her throat.

Yet her eyes were dry while she asked in a nasal voice, "Did you promise my father you'd protect me?"

Seth looked at her and curtly nodded. "I promised you'd be safe..." He said.

Kate swallowed, again, and turned her head, following Seth's gaze which lingered for a moment on the driver's seat.

And she saw...even now, she could see Seth and her father shaking their hands.

She saw...

She saw Seth breaking the fingers of the vampire outside the Titty Twister, the fucker who had named her, "apple pie pussy"

She saw...

She saw Seth watching her back, while simultaneously urging her to keep fighting.

She felt their bodies close, his back against hers while they were surrounded by vampires.

Kate saw...

She saw Seth's face, dirty with blood and dust under the sun. She saw his profile, she saw the way he kept his hands on the car's door, while he told her to go home, without looking at her.

He had protected her, back then. He had protected her from Richie, from vampires, from her heartache...and from himself by leaving her. .

He had been rude, brusque...cruel, even...but he had protected her.

Her heart was beating so fast in her chest, now, that it almost hurt, while in a second, she relived the last few days...from the moment Seth had come back into her life, giving her the time to kill that vampire, to his silences and the way he had kissed her and held her...loved her.

Did she really have doubts about Seth's feelings?

It had just taken a second for things to become crystal clear to her.

Seth loved her...and he loved her so much that he had allowed someone to fuck with his mind.

She looked at Seth, while she slowly sat on the bed next to him. "We both know what would have happened if I had come with you...and you're not that kind of man, you said it yourself, remember?"

She weakly smiled at him while she said, "If you were that kind of man, you'd have peeked that day in the bathroom, or you'd have fucked me senseless once in El Rey!"

"Kate!" Seth exclaimed looked at her surprised. Kate noticed, though, that he was smiling now. They didn't talk for a moment, both of them smiling, Seth's smiled faded, though, when he said, "I'm trouble, Kate..."

Kate snorted at his words, "Because I'm not? I fucking kill vampires, Seth! I chase troubles!"

She wanted to tell him that having him into her life wasn't a trouble...on the contrary, it was the best thing that had ever happened to her, but she didn't.

They loved each other, she was sure about that fact, just like she knew that there wasn't room in their lives for those kind of speeches.

"You don't have to..." Seth said, breaking her train of thoughts.

Kate shrugged, "Yes I do, and you know that. And it's not because of the Titty Twister...or what happened the night after that...I want to, Seth!"

Seth nodded and Kate thought that he had probably expected that answer from her; he didn't comment on her words, he just said after a moment, "They want to nail my ass, Kate...and not for what I used to do or else the cops would be already here..."

Kate tried to ignore the painful knots that formed at the pit of her stomach at Seth's words, but it was useless, she felt breathless for a moment, and she wished she could just reach out and grasp Seth's hand but she couldn't do that...because it'd be awkward for them...for what they were.

Or, maybe, she bitterly thought...she was just too afraid to touch him, afraid it would make Seth's words and the threat in them even more real.

"Why..." Kate started, but stopped and shook her head. Seth still wasn't looking at her, he kept looking in front of him and although she couldn't look into his eyes in that moment, she recognized the look on his face...and it frightened her.

She knew that look...it was the same he had had on his face just before staking Richie...or when he had told her to go home, six years before.

Seth was making up his mind before he decided to do what he believed was right.

"I don't know" He said, "what I know is that you're not safe with me, not right now. You'd be safer if I disappeared for a while...just until..."

"Until what?" She asked, surprised by how stern her voice sounded, even more so because she could still feel tears in the back of her throat.

Seth turned to look at her, creasing his brow, apparently surprised by her question

"Until we meet again in another six years?" She asked, "if we don't get killed first, of course!" She spat those last words and had to hang on all of her self control not to scream them.

"Kate..." He started.

"Do you remember what you told me? You said that you weren't going anywhere! You said that you weren't going to make the same mistake twice!"

She was panting now, with rage, and as much as she had tried she couldn't help shouting.

Seth was looking at her and Kate knew how much it had cost him saying those words, she knew that he just wanted to protect her...

There was just one thing he hadn't considered...she was a fucking damsel in distress!

"Kate, listen to me..." Seth said between clenched teeth.

"No, you listen to me!" She said and then saw Seth starting at her words and clenching his jaws. She sighed and softly added, "Please!"

Seth didn't want to listen to her, though, and he was really hanging on the last shred of his patience, she could clearly see it on his face: she could see his jaws twitching with the effort to keep the anger in check, but to no avail...his anger radiated from his body, coming to her in hot waves.

"What?" He said.

"If what you're saying is true...you won't be safe on your own, not among civilians and least of all among vampire killers!"

"I can take care of myself, sugar!" Seth just said. And the tone of his voice was sharp...it was the kind of tone that didn't allow any objections.

"Seth..." She softly said, "we both know that I can't really force you to stay here..."

Seth blinked his eyes and for a moment Kate caught a glimpse of something fierce in his eyes...and pain at her words and she couldn't help wondering whether the same look was mirroring in her eyes now.

Yet she had just said the truth: she couldn't force Seth to stay if he had really decided to leave.

"You didn't tell me what Clay said to you...but if you want to leave because of that...then you're playing his game" Kate said, and her voice was barely more than a whisper, "is that what you want?"

Seth shook his head before saying, "This is not a game, Kate..."

"No..." She conceded, "it's not. It's a tactic..."

She thought back at that morning, when they had first met Clay...and then at Chris' words in the warehouse: every single word had been used to scatter doubts in her and she guessed that Clay had done pretty much the same with Seth.

Chris had tried to make her second guess herself, her ability as vampire killer...and she had used Seth and their relationship to reinforce her attempts. Or, maybe making her second guess Seth had been her goal all along.

And now Seth was talking about leaving her so that she could be safe.

They wanted them divided and confused...but why?

"Divide and conquer!" She suddenly said.

Seth shook his head, confused and Kate smiled before saying, "Don't you get it? They want to divide us...to weaken us...you!"

Seth opened his mouth to say something but Kate interrupted him by taking his hand in hers and saying, "Together we're two mean motherfuckers...but if they divided us? We'd just be two nuts who killed vampires and had weapons and scars to show off!"

She hadn't even realized that despite what she had previously thought, she had taken Seth's hand in hers...and she marveled at how natural it felt.

She tilted her head down to look at their joined hands.

Together...they made sense and not only as vampire killers.

The killer and the preacher's daughter: who would have thought?

She started, breaking her train of thoughts when Seth lightly squeezed her hand and wryly said, "Speak for yourself, sweetheart...you're nuts!"

Kate tilted her head up and looked at him, arching her eyebrows, while her lips curled up in a half smile: Seth's voice had sounded stern, but now that she was looking into his eyes she realized that she couldn't see rage and pain...not in that moment, on the contrary he looked amused.

And there was something else...he had changed his mind about leaving...she could see it in the way his body was relaxing.

Truth was that they made sense together.

And she was overwhelmed by the sudden, burning desire of him, of his skin. It was a desire she could see mirrored in Seth's brown eyes.

Their fingers were still entwined when she moved to kiss him.

Together...

They were together against vampires, the monsters they fought and killed night after night.

They'd be together against men, against their own past, their own demons.

Together...they were together, in that motor home, in that moment in time, while passion burned the words they had said, as much as it was eclipsing the rage, the pain, the heartache.

She found herself sitting astride Seth, her legs clutching his hips, and she couldn't help quivering when she felt his fingers brushing on her skin as he helped her out of her sweater.

She smiled and her voice was a throaty whisper when she said, "Tonight we're going to show them how to get rid of vampires... "

His lips curled up in a smile, one that finally reached his eyes and a moment later she felt his lips on hers, his hands buried in her hair as he deepened the contact between them.

And his lips, hungrily kissing hers were washing away part of the restlessness she had been feeling, filling her with desire, hot, liquid that hummed into her veins.

Gasping for air she broke the kiss, only to scatter feather like caresses on his temples, his jaws with her lips while she helped him out of his sweater.

"And then?" He panted, tilting his head up as her lips were on his neck, tracing with the tip of her tongue the lines of his tattoo.

Seth's skin was warm and silky against her lips, and she couldn't help a sharp intake of breath feeling skin on skin with him, shivering with anticipation when he unfastened her bra.

"We'll figure something out together..." She said but had to stop, her breath caught in her throat when Seth's hands covered her breasts and he started to tease her nipples. She arched her back in pleasure and a moment later she felt Seth's lips on her breast and his tongue replacing his fingers in teasing her nipple.

Seth was holding her tighter at him and she closed her eyes, giving into sensation while she ran her hands through his hair, and she couldn't help rocking her hips against him.

Together...

Their bodies were moving together, seeking each other's, craving for release.

She let out a moan of disappointment when Seth's lips left her breast but a moment later she laughed out loud when with a swift move her rolled her over so that he was on top of her.

She had really forgotten how good it was to laugh.

That wasn't the moment to think about her past, though, not when Seth was kissing it all away and she could feel pleasure throbbing inside of her, right through her soul.

She blinked in surprise when she realized that somehow, she couldn't say when, her jeans had disappeared and just like Seth, she was naked now.

Their lips met again and again, while she balanced herself on a elbow and she circled Seth's neck with the other arm.

She looked at him when he traced the scars on her back with his fingertips and she smiled at him; those scars were her past...and it didn't matter to her.

She had to protect Seth. That was the only thought that the pleasure wasn't eroding with its intensity, on the contrary it was burning inside of her, throbbing in sync with her pleasure.

She had to protect Seth...at any cost, from anyone whether it was vampires or human beings, monsters or monster chasers.

She had to protect him from Clay and Chris.

She arched her back, holding her breath for a moment when Seth was above her.

They locked gazes...they were together.

And Seth's voice was thick with emotions when, almost as if he had read her mind, said, "Stay out of this, Kate...I mean it!"

Her heart was beating faster and faster in her chest as she nodded at Seth's words and the pleasure burned when Seth entered her and it was bitter.

The pleasure tasted liked the tears she could once again taste in the back of her throat while her eyes stayed mercilessly dry

She clung onto him, seconding his movements, burying her face against his neck, tasting his skin and when the pleasure burst into her, it was so powerful that she let out a cry, muffled by Seth's deep kiss.

Pleasure...pain...shame.

She had lied to Seth, she had lied to him and had looked at him in the eyes while she did. She had lied to Seth while pleasure was so strong that it was making the colors around her brighter and sharper.

She wasn't going to stay out of what was going on.

She wasn't going to lose the man she loved.


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Happy Holidays guys! Sorry for the delay! I'm kinda stuck with the translation of the fic from Italian:(**

**To the reviewers: thanks for your words...and for still sticking to the story!:)**

**  
**

* * *

_I_t wasn't supposed to happen.

Clay had really believed that putting thousand of miles and years of silence between them had been enough if not to forget her at least to make things simpler to both of them.

He had really believed he had done the right thing, the only sensible thing...and that making the choice of leaving Seattle could be enough.

It wasn't.

He had believed they had done the right thing. He had deluded himself into thinking he had been making progresses. He had deluded himself into thinking that the hole he felt inside was nothing.

Clay was looking at Chris, she was putting her clothes on after making love. As usual Chris hadn't been long in his arms after they had made love. She never did...even before they had both chosen the fight.

Even before they were forced to make a choice.

He caught a glimpse of the scars and bruises on her body and noticed that some of the scars hadn't been there three years before; there were claws marks on her flat stomach and they looked quite fresh. or the long criss-cross scar on her thigh...he thought it looked quite recent. He knew Chris' scar...including the one on her face, that red fleshy tear that she proudly wore, that she had never tried to hide.

It wasn't supposed to happen.

They had behaved like two adults, like two pros during their meeting in the Church and it had almost been as if they didn't have a history...and even after that, when they had talked about Gregory and the phone calls the son of a bitch had made to both of them, things had been remarkably civil between them.

He had been able to be next to her and had been proud when his heart hadn't skipped a beat, he had been able not to think that it had been thanks to her if he hadn't gone crazy after Meghan's death.

He hadn't even thought abot the fact that once, he had made her laugh so hard that tears had streamed down her face and that she had thanked him for making her feel alive...and had kissed him until they had both been breathless.

He hadn't even thought about the last day...and how he had looked for her, scanning a crowded street with his eyes, before getting into his car to leave Seattle, and how she hadn't been there.

He hadn't even thought about how he had felt as he was leaving, as if his heart was withering...and that that feeling hadn't really left him.

He had been all business and so had she, because the mission, their fight came first.

Because love stories between vampire killers only brought tragedies and deaths.

And because they had a problem, Seth Gecko and they had been asked to solve it.

He had been able to be civil, natural to her when she had knocked on the door of his apartment, a few hours before, asking him about his patrol with Seth.

It wasn't supposed to happen. He wasn't supposed to grab her by her shoulders after slamming the door shut, pinning her with his weight against a wall, until she circled his neck with her arms and his hips with her thighs.

And he had found out that kissing her was still so natural...almost as if they hadn't been apart for three years...almost as if they hadn't been forced to make a choice in the first place.

And although it wasn't supposed to happen, their clothes had ended up pooling on the floor, and without breaking their kiss they had ended up on his bed, forgetting everything about the fight, Seth Gecko, Gregory Sheridan and Meadows Lyne.

They weren't supposed to forget...and yet, it had been easy for them to do so and Chris' skin had been soft while he brushed it with his fingers and his lips tasted, drank...recalled it.

And their kisses had been full of a frantic urgency that had erased time, words and that morning of three years before, when she hadn't been there...watching him leave, when she hadn't even said good bye.

Chris was there now, just at arm's reach...and Clay thought about the bitter irony of the situation, he'd have killed to have her back...but not like that. His wish had been granted...now he had to actually pay the price...and he didn't know if he was ready to.

Chris was in front of the mirror, now. She had dressed and was brushing her hair, and for a moment it was almost as if the past three years of his life hadn't happened...and they were, once again, in his little apartment in Seattle.

They had never lived together, Chris had never slept in his bed...not even that last night, before he left, after they had made their choice. Chris had never left any of her belongings in his apartment and he had reluctantly done the same.

He shook his head, breaking his train of thoughts and couldn't help the light smile that crept on his lips when he saw the silver ring gleaming on her left ring finger, his hand immediately went to the similar ring that hung from a thin chain he always wore around his neck.

He was surprised that Chris still wore that ring, he was surprised by the sad smile he saw on Chris' face when he noticed she had been looking at him while he fingered his ring.

For a moment it looked like Chris was about to say something...and he was tempted too, for a moment he was tempted to tell her to forget about everything...about their choice, about their duties...but it didn't last long, not surprisingly it was Chris who talked and her voice was all business when she said, "It's almost time to begin..."

Chris got close to the small window, without moving aside the blinds and closed her eyes for a moment.

It was almost time to begin.

And Chris was once again the vampire killer, the woman who had chosen the fight over her feelings, the woman who had broken up with him for everyone's sake.

Clay sat on the bed and took his pants from the floor, he put them on while Chris without looking at him said, "I wish Greg hadn't dropped this bomb on our laps...not with what's going on here!"

There wasn't any hint about their past...she didn't even mention that Greg had been one of the few people who knew about it and had reminded them of it when talking about Seth and Kate.

Greg had played dirty with them...he had been a first class asshole asking them to solve the problem Seth and Kate posed for their mission. His orders had been very clear: divide the two vampire killers and deal with Seth.

And he had chosen them because they knew how much loving a vampire killer was dangerous, because they were the perfect example of how bad things could get...he had chosen Chris because she would do what she was told, and he had chosen him because...because he was a cop, he guessed and because he had fucked up once for love...

Greg had been in Seattle when shit had hit the fan at the time...he had seen it all, and he had used that knowledge to convince him of his plan.

Well...using that knowledge hadn't been the only thing he had done...the word guilt trip came to mind as well...all for the greater good, for the mission...because Greg might be an asshole...but in his heart the shrink really thought he was doing the right thing for everyone.

"Tell me about it..." He finally said. He put on a sweater as he took some steps toward Chris.

Time was when he'd have closed the distance between them and he'd have held her...and she would have nested her head against the crook of his shoulder, softly kissing his skin...that was the past, though...when they had thought they could have it all...that they could be everything: vampire killers, fighters and lovers, when they had believed that giving up on part of their minds and their sanity to that cause, to the fight could be enough.

They had been naive...and in love...words, roles that were incompatible for people like them.

Almost as if she had been reading his mind or heard his thoughts, Chris jerked her head on his side and blinked for a moment and her eyes which were usually void of warmth, feelings filled with them. She took a step back, getting away from the window and leant against a wall, crossing her arms over her chest.

Clay swallowed, he had to focus on his mission, on the real reason behind Chris' visit.

That was the choice they had made...that they had been forced to make.

Yet he hesitated for a moment before he spoke and when he did his voice was low while he said, "I don't want to kill a human being, Chris...not even a killer...but Greg is right about Seth Gecko, he is dangerous for us"

Chris didn't talk for a moment and when she did Clay noticed that her eyes were, once again, cold gray pools and her voice was sharp when she said, "I know that Greg is right, Clay. We're dealing with a very dangerous man...Greg told me he was the real deal...and I heard he's gotten very strong...he's almost as strong as them. If he was ever bitten we'd be screwed! "

Clay didn't comment on Chris' words. Truth was he didn't give a shit about Seth's physical strength, the man was a vampire killer...he had to be strong...all vampire killers were, it was necessary to survive.

Chris only knew what Greg had told her, what she had glimpsed in the Church...she hadn't looked at him, she hadn't pushed his buttons. She hadn't really seen the dark fury glimmering in his eyes, he had.

Clay didn't care about his physical strength...but he feared what Seth Gecko kept locked inside, the caged rage waiting to be freed...unleashed.

Chris was waiting for an answer, though and Clay shrugging his shoulders said, "If any of us was ever bitten we'd be screwed...we know what we may become once bitten"

He stopped talking and Chris who had been looking at him until that moment, tilted her head down refusing to meet his eyes.

Of course she knew...she had seen it happening too many times in her life not to. She had seen too many vampire killers, people she had cared about being bitten, turning into terrible monsters.

And once, an innocent...had turned into a monster because of them...because they had chosen to save themselves, because for one night the mission hadn't been the most important thing for them.

"He is not like us!" Chris said, "and the girl..."

"She is good " Clay said interrupting her.

Chris pursed her lips and for a moment he saw something flickering in Chris' eyes, it lasted just a second and then she dryly said, "She may be good, but I don't think she's got what it takes..."

Chris had told him about what had happened in the warehouse that morning...but he wouldn't be surprised if she hadn't told him everything.

Or maybe she hadn't had the time to.

He knew Kate's reputation, though...she wasn't an amateur and she wasn't a stupid, yet he trusted Chris' judgment.

She had been a vampire killer for a long time, since she was a kid...their underground world was the only one she really knew.

"She has too many doubts.." She was saying, "did Greg find out about her?"

Clay shook his head. "He's working on it, but it'll take time... according to Greg though, Seth and Kate have known each other for a long time..."

Chris got close to the bed and sat on it saying, "Maybe, but I don't think they have been going at it for a long time..."

Clay didn't move, he forced himself not to get close to the woman when he said, "That's none of our business!"

He stopped talking and shook his head...what was he thinking? Of course it was their business! Especially on the eve of the mother of all the battles they'd ever fought against vampires...especially if two vampire killers were involved...and Seth Gecko was one of them.

Chris shrugged at his words before saying, "The hell it isn't, Clay! We'll have to fight with and against them! I wouldn't want to get in their way if one of them was ever in danger, would you?"

Chris hadn't raised her voice, she had been looking at him while she talked and Clay for a moment, had felt like he had gone back in time...to a similar conversation they had had, before making the choice that had divided them.

Because love between vampire killers was dangerous...it fucked things up...and innocents paid for those fucks up.

"Greg is wrong..." Chris said, interrupting his musings, "Seth isn't the only danger...they're both time bombs...they're both to be dealt with!"

Clay moved toward the woman exclaiming, "Oh, c'mon Chris! We're talking about a kid here!"

Chris smiled at him, but the smile never reached her eyes and her voice was cold while she said, "You're underestimating her, Clay! You're not seeing the whole picture! She's a kid...but she's been alone for years...and she's in love, now! They both are! Do you honestly believe she'd think twice before feeding any of us to one of them if he was in danger?"

Clay didn't answer to her words. He wasn't surprised that it had been Chris bringing that subject up.

She had never denied her part of responsibility about what had happened that night.

She had never denied that she'd chosen him over an innocent...just like he had.

"It might happen...it's happened in the past" Chris added in a soft voice.

Clay nodded at her words...and he wondered what she would think, if she knew that he would have sacrificed an innocent in a heart beat if it had helped saving his daughter's life. What would Chris think if she knew that he'd chose her...over another innocent all over again?

He didn't tell her, of course...he just said in a low voice, "Then I guess we shouldn't fight together tonight...not after what happened last time..."

Chris' reply was sharp and immediate, "This is not about us, Clay! And besides it's not like we have a choice...there is no way they are going to be divided tonight...they're going to be together and watch each other's back..."

"We might ask Marcus to divide them" Clay said, but he knew that they wouldn't accept: Seth and Kate weren't stupid...they knew something was going on with them, he knew what Chris and he had told them that morning during their respective patrols had probably upset them...hopefully enough to lower their guards down, especially Seth's.

Chris interrupted his musings saying, "They'd skip town...and we need them here."

Clay knew that tone of voice. Chris was ready for the fight...and she was ready to obey to Greg's orders, however cruel they might be.

The woman who had kissed him and quietly moaned with pleasure as she moved with him had been replaced with the fighter, the warrior...and yet Clay wished he could just reach out to her and take her in his arms...he wished he could break the silent agreement between them.

He didn't though. He didn't move, he just looked at her while he said, "Fine...who is going to deal with whom?"

Chris shrugged as she got up from the bed, she took a few steps toward him and said, "Whoever gets the chance, Clay...it'll be so messy tonight that no one is going to notice another body on the floor..."

Clay tilted his head on a side, looking at the woman: she was beautiful, the most beautiful woman he had ever met...and the most unmerciful.

Yet he kept loving her.

"We are going to notice...and someone else might as well..." Clay said and his voice was barely more than a whisper.

The man, the father, the cop...recoiled at that idea...but the warrior who had seen what men could really become once bitten couldn't help but agree with that plan.

"You know what might be of us if they found out?" He asked.

Chris didn't answer right away to that question...then she smiled! She looked secure, almost serene so much that she broke the silent agreement between them and took a step toward him, closing the distance between them, and for a moment Clay was tempted to raise a hand and touch her face, he was tempted to brush the fleshy tear that rolled down her cheek with his fingertips but before he could do that Chris spoke, freezing him in place, making his heart beat faster and faster in his chest.

"That won't be a problem, Clay...because it's either them or us! We'll have to deal with them or die trying..."

* * *

_**M**_ends the broken love

Cry for them they are our brothers

Save the fading light in our souls

_I__t was burning hot. _

_The sunlight on his skin was burning, it was drying his sweat and the blood that were soaking his clothes_

_Fucking, goddamned assholes of vampires! _

_Seth wanted to leave that shit hole...he just wanted the rendez-vouz with Carlos to be over with so that he could get the hell away from the Titty Twister's rubbles. _

_Alone...driving that fucking red car...and after the night he had just had, the red of that car looked a bit too bright for him. _

_He was seriously starting to fucking hate red. _

_He could feel Kate's eyes on him, while he was taking money from the case to give it to her. _

_Richie would say that it was a dumb thing...he would say that the only money willingly given to women was the one for pussy...or he'd already used his .44._

_But Richie wasn't there any more. He was gone...he would never come back...his body had liquefied, he had been the one who had staked him. _

_There was just Kate...who was looking at him and whose look was burning as much as the sun's on his skin. _

_And it wasn't supposed to be like that!_

_He wasn't supposed to give a fuck about that girl!_

_And yet he heard his own voice saying, "I'm sorry..."_

_And he almost tilted his head down, he sounded almost ashamed. _

_He wasn't supposed to give a shit about anything. He was only supposed to care about himself, his brother and his money!_

_Yet, Kate's bitter smile burned...just like the honesty in her voice when she said, "I'm sorry too..." _

_He had to get out of there...he had to leave that hell...and follow Carlos to El Rey. _

_He hadn't even realized that the wind was blowing until Kate shook her head and long brown locks were brushed by it. _

_Kate looked tired, exhausted, she was still holding the money he had given her and the wind all around them was moving the hems of their coats. _

"_Seth?" Kate asked...and there was hesitancy in her voice, now. "Need some company?"_

_That girl had no idea what she was talking about...she didn't know where he was going...she didn't know what El Rey really was. _

_But it wasn't like she had other alternatives..._

_And why did he fucking care? He wasn't supposed to!_

_Instead he curtly shook his head, nodding at her to get into the car. _

"_I'm a bastard" He said getting into the car next to her, "but I'm not a fucking bastard!"_

_Kate would be safe with him, he thought while starting the car. Granted, El Rey was hell...but if they had made it alive out of Titty Twister, El Rey would be a walk in the park. Together they could make it..._

_Divided..._

_His mind refused that thought. He had promised she would be safe. He had given his word..._

_Kate was smiling, sitting next to him in the car. She looked tired and Seth said, "You should get some rest, sugar."_

_A shadow of fear crossed her features, but she nodded and Seth thought it was completely natural that she rested her head against his shoulders before closing her eyes. _

"_Will you wake me up if it gets dark?" She sleepily asked. _

_Seth frowned, confused. Of course he would wake her up...but it wasn't going to happen, it wasn't going to get dark...they had left the Titty Twister!_

_They were finally getting away from that hell-hole and it didn't even matter to him that he was driving that fucking too bright red car...and even the sun had stopped burning, there was just the wind, it was blowing, brushing his face, bringing the smells of the previous night to his nose._

_And there was Kate, peacefully sleeping with her head hidden in the crook of his arm, while the wind was playing with her hair. _

_He wouldn't allow darkness anywhere near them! _

_They would go to El Rey...and things would be fine there, he wouldn't fuck things up that time! _

_He relaxed against the driver's seat, enjoying the fact that it was daylight, smiling when tilting his head down he saw Kate's sleeping face and strands of her long dark hair veiling it. _

_He felt the smile dying on his lips, though, when he tilted his head up and glimpsed the tunnel in front of them. _

_It was an irrational thing._

_It was just a tunnel, a fucking tunnel!_

_But it was dark...it was too fucking dark, and they were still too close to the Titty Twister._

_It might be irrational...but he wasn't going to enter that tunnel, not when Kate was next to him and their clothes, their skins still smelled of blood and death. _

_There wasn't a chance he would enter that tunnel! He was going to go to Carlos and tell him to take another road! El Rey might be a hell hole in the middle of nowhere, but that couldn't be the only road to it! _

_He slowed down his car as he got nearer to the tunnel and turned his head, gripping with a hand the steering wheel while he held Kate with the other arm tighter at him. _

_And his heart began pounding faster and faster in his chest: there were cops everywhere behind him, cars had been following his car for God knew how long with sirens blinking without making noise. _

_Why didn't he notice? And why could he almost hear Richie's voice and his laughter in his head?_

_And where the fuck were Carlos and his goons? _

"_Kate?" He said turning toward the tunnel, swallowing when his eyes met the unwelcoming darkness creeping out from it. _

_Great! Fucking cops, ready to kill them...or that fucking tunnel...that was a hell of choice to make!_

"_Sugar? You need to wake up...now!"_

_He said those words while he was already entering the tunnel and he couldn't help closing his eyes while he did that. _

_Light..._

_He could feel light on his skin...and it wasn't sunlight, and the smells had changed as well..._

_He knew that smell, it wasn't the dusty one of that Mexican road to El Rey. _

_It wasn't the hot, sharp smell tunnels always had..._

_No, he knew that smell: alcohol, sweat, cheap perfume and motor oil..._

_And he couldn't feel the reassuring weight of the steering wheel in his hand any more...he couldn't even feel the warmth of Kate's body against his._

_Where was Kate?_

_He forced himself to open his eyes and shook his head in wonder, while next to him vampires and humans were dancing an playing pools...inside the Titty Twister. _

_Where the fuck was Kate?_

_She had been next to him in the car...before they had gotten into the tunnel! He looked around noticing he was sitting to the same table he had chosen in the previous night and he leapt on his feet when he saw Jacob Fuller sitting next to him, smiling through his fangs at something Richie was whispering in his ear. _

_Richie...Seth couldn't help looking at his little brother's face and almost as if he had called him aloud the demon tilted his head up and stared at him. _

_Richie...whose eyes were unnaturally green, filled with a cockiness and an evilness completely different than the one he had glimpsed in his brother's eyes when he had been alive. _

_He opened his mouth to speak, to ask those fucks what they had done to his Kate when Razor Charlie's voice, the Titty Twister's bartender, interrupted him. _

_He slowly turned toward the stage where the monster was smiling at the audience, lit by a reddish pool, and he was surprised when he realized that just like the other vampires in the room he had totally abandoned his human mask. He was looking at a monster...while surrounded by them. _

_He was a monster...the same one that Sex Machine had killed, and yet here he was standing on the stage and was about to announce the biggest show of the evening._

"_We have been waiting for this moment. We have been waiting for her to get ripe...we have waited until she was ours!"_

_When he said those words the lights in the room began to fade and Seth saw that three vampires were wheeling a huge rectangular object, covered with a red, silky sheet, on stage. _

"_She is ready now...and you? If you are, raise your head, smile and enjoy the bitch being branded!"_

_The vampire on stage looked at him as all around them people laughed and whistled in approval. The fucker was looking at him, a cruel smirk playing on his lips and Seth wondered why he still wasn't on that fucking stage ripping his heart out. _

_Because he knew what was about to happen. He knew what, rather, who was under that sheet. _

_He knew...and yet part of him wanted to see. _

_Part of him had to know._

_Four dancers came on stage and ceremoniously lifted the sheet revealing a cage...with Kate inside of it. _

_His Kate. _

_Her long brown hair was veiling her face, yet Seth could clearly see fear on it. _

"_And so it begins..." Razor Charlie solemnly announced. _

_It was in that moment that strong arms wrapped around his body and his throat blocking him, keeping him still with his head turned toward the stage so that he couldn't look away. So that he could see. _

_Greg was the first one who came up on stage, he was dressed in black, he wasn't wearing his sunglasses and he was proudly showing the scar that covered his right eye...he looked so fucking proud of that scar that it was almost as if it was sparkling with a reddish light, Greg stopped on the left side of the cage, and a second later Chris came up on the stage, the blond chick walked with a steady step and Seth wondered how she managed to do that, since her sockets were empty...they were two little black chasms._

_Clay was the last one who came up on the stage, dressed in jeans and a sweater, his shield pinned on his chest, he was holding a truncheon in his right hand. _

_Seth screamed from atop of his lungs, while he struggled, trying to get free from the arms that were strongly keeping him put. _

_He knew what was about to happen. He knew what they were going to do to Kate. _

_Kate was about to die and there was nothing he could do to stop them. There was nothing he could to save her, not when iron-strong arms were blocking him. _

_He couldn't even try and avert his gaze from the stage, they were blocking his head, forcing him to see...and they were simply too fucking strong for him. _

_Kate was going to die and it would be his fault. _

_Meanwhile Greg was letting Kate out of the cage, the girl slowly walked beside Greg, she didn't utter a sound which only amplified the silence that had suddenly that had suddenly enveloped the room._

_The only sounds he could hear was Kate's panting breath which mirrored his own. _

_He struggled against the arms that were blocking him when Kate fell on her knees after the first hits she got. _

_They took turns in beating her, holding her by her arms, forcing her to get up to be hit again and again. _

_Seth cried Kate's name when blood plenty started oozing from the wounds on her body. _

_He screamed...over and over, he threatened the bastards who were hurting Kate, who were kicking her, punching her while she remained silent. She didn't utter a sound while pain annhillated her. _

_It didn't matter, though...he was screaming for both of them...for her pain as well as for his. _

_He cried Kate's name when they dropped her to the floor and she didn't move. _

"_Kate!" He called her again and only then did the arms around his body lessened their gripp on him. _

_Just a few steps had divided him from Kate...and yet it was almost as if she had been miles away. _

_Blood. _

_He could see Kate's blood as he got close to her, it had pooled around her slender frame and it was dark, it had soaked her clothes and her hair. _

_It took just a few steps, while silence still surrounded him and Seth didn't think he had ever hated so much silence in his life._

_He knelt in front of Kate: she was still...except for the blood that keep trailing down her face and her arms. _

"_Hey..." He breathed, feeling his eyes becoming suddenly too heavy...so much that he feared that they could just pop out of his sockets. _

_It didn't matter, though...the only thing Seth really cared about was touching Kate. He had to. _

_He needed to feel her skin against his. _

_He had to touch her...even if he knew that touching her would make everything real. _

_He reached out with his hand and tentatively tucked a lock of her hair away from her face. _

"_Kate?" He tried, and then louder, "Kate?!"_

_He moved toward her, ignoring her blood that was soaking his trousers and his coat, he bent on her, circling her shoulders with an arm to hold her at him. Kate didn't move, she stood still, only her head lightly tilted back and Seth faintly heard the noise her hand made when it touched the floor. _

_She was dead...because of him. _

_He had made a promise to Jacob...that she would be safe...and instead she was dead now. _

_He grazed her face with his fingers, tucking away damp locks, thick with blood, leaving crimson-blood trails on her cheeks._

_She was in his arms...like it was supposed to be, he was holding her at him...and it still felt right, so fucking right that it hurt. _

_He gently grazed her forehead, he didn't even imagine he had it in him while he whispered, "I'm sorry I didn't keep my promise..."_

_He could feel the softness of her hair tickling his wrists and he couldn't help swallowing. _

_She was dead...and he hadn't told her what he felt for her. _

_She was dead...because she had trusted him. _

_She was dead...and she hadn't known the truth. _

"_I love you, Kate..." He said and he couldn't help it when he almost let go of her, fearing for a moment that she would open her eyes like Richie had done the night before. _

_Kate hadn't been killed by vampires, though. _

_Fucking humans had killed her!_

_There were vampires...all around him, he could feel their eyes on him. And he didn't care, not any more._

_He took her by her shoulders, blankly staring at the pool of blood on the floor. _

"_I love you" He repeated in a low voice, resting his face against Kate's, brushing her forehead and her lips with his and he had to swallow past the lump in his throat when he felt how cold her skin was getting. _

_A laughter. He clearly heard it: it was powerful...and full of a sick mirth. _

_Seth tilted his head up, ignoring for a moment Kate, whose head fell back against his shoulder. He narrowed his eyes, while he looked around to see where the voice was coming from only to blink in surprise. _

_It was him! His vampire self was having a fucking great time, laughing at what was going on. _

_And it was his vampire self's eyes, those dark, obsidians pits who broke the spell and made him realize it was a nightmare. A fucking nightmare...and the body he was still holding in his arms was just a figment of his fucking imagination!_

_And yet, the feelings he felt inside were real...they burned, making everything around him even more well-defined, including his vampire self who was sitting at a table lit by the same red light that had been on Razor Charlie a little while before. _

_The red light moved away from the monster who was wearing his face to lit Clay, whose hands and face were stained with blood. The cop shrugged his shoulders before saying, "Can't tell I hadn't warned you, buddy!"_

_Although he knew he was having a dream, Seth snarled at Clay words, holding Kate's body against his. He blinked his eyes once twice when the light moved away from Clay and lit Richie, who was sitting next to the cop. _

_And HE wasn't a monster...his face wasn't unnaturally swollen...and his eyes...were those of his little brother. _

_His psycho little brother who was horny like hell at the sight of Kate's blood and blinked at him and nodded his approval. _

_And he held his breath when the red light moved on Jacob...and he realized he wasn't a vampire...there was nothing demonic about the man. He looked like the man he had known and socked in a motel room. _

_Jacob put off his glasses and tucked them in the pocket of his white shirt, he didn't talk at first, he just looked at him and then softly said, "Son...a man knows the price to pay for a promise...and recognize those he can keep..."_

"_C'mon!" His vampire self said interrupting the preacher, "What the fuck do you expect here, a happy ending? You're holding a fucking corpse in your arms! You bring death you dickhead!"_

* * *

Seth could still hear the words his vampire self said as he jerked his eyes open, while hot shreds of anger and fear still fluttered in his heart and soul and he was surprised when he realized that he felt breathless, almost as if he'd been holding his breath for too long. He ground his teeth, swearing under his breath and looked down, at Kate: she was sleeping in his arms, totally oblivious of his turmoil. 

He ran a hand through his hair and then moved away from Kate, careful not to wake her up; he wasn't ready to look into her eyes...not until he kept it together. He sat on the bed without stopping looking at her.

She looked so peaceful in that moment...there weren't nightmares plaguing her sleep; Kate moved in her sleep and Seth narrowed his eyes, noticing for the first time the thin golden chain around her neck...it was the only piece of jewelry she wore.

_ A man knows the price to pay for a promise... _

He swallowed hard when he clearly heard Jacob's words from his dream...it was almost as if the preacher was there in the motor home with them, saying those words.

_ I love you, Kate…_

He blinked, while the words he had said...words he didn't think he'd ever say while awake echoed over and over in his mind, while he took his jeans and sweater from the floor.

Kate was still sleeping and she was smiling. She wasn't a warrior in that moment, she wasn't a vampire killer...and she didn't even remotely resembled the kid he had met six years before.

She was his. She was his woman...the woman he loved. She was a woman, peacefully sleeping after making love with her man.

He quickly got dressed, without stopping looking at her.

_ Seth, don't leave me…_

He sighed, stopping only to write something on a piece of paper that he left on the table.

A real man knew which promises could be kept.

A real man knew the price to pay for a promise.

And Seth was ready to pay.


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: **I know...it's been a long time since the last update. RL has been hectic, and the time to translate broken wings into something that resembled English has been non existent.

I want to thank you all the people who wrote me, and who haven't forgot the story! Thank you...it really means a lot to me!

Also, I apologize for the short chapter, I promise I'll update within the next few days with a bigger chapter...and please, forgive me, for the grammar mistakes...:)

And now, on with the story...

* * *

_T_he Church's basement was filled with people, just like that morning and Kate looked around, feeling the beginning of a headache.

The show was about to begin. Father Marcus had explained the plan...and all the vampire killers...all of them armed to the hilt had agreed to it.

Everyone including Seth...and she.

The plan was actually very simple...and suicidal. Groups of vampire killers were going to get into the hot spots and had to act as one. Other groups were going to be in the backline...fighting outside the clubs and buildings...and others were going to stay out of the fight, at least for that night.

"Although we all wish otherwise, I think we know that it's higly unlikely we'll be able to kill all vampires tonight." Father Marcus had said. The priest had looked tired but there had been resolve on his face and in his voice when he had added, "We expect more of us to come here for the next few days, but until then, someone is staying here, in the Church...for the aftermath...when dawn comes."

Clay had taken a cue from Father Marcus and had said, "We have been able to contain civilians. When dusk comes...in ten minutes, the town will be virtually empty. It will be us against them. "

Clay's words had prompted a discussion among vampire killers and in the end they had decided that there wouldn't be any contact among the groups: no cell phones, no walkie talkies...nothing that could arise suspicions, nothing that could distract them once the fight began.

Only then did Father Marcus had formed the groups and Seth and she had been divided at the beginning...and it had been then that Seth had surprised her, he had gotten closer to Father Marcus and had just shaken his head no.

No words were spoken, Seth hadn't threatened the priest, he hadn't given him any ultimatum. He hadn't said a word...not a single word, yet Father Marcus – rather Marcus, as the priest had asked them to call him – had hold his gaze and after a moment he had allowed them to fight together.

And Kate had glimpsed a flicker of disapproval in the priest's eyes when right after his exchange with Seth, Chris had volunteered to be part of their group...and for a moment, but maybe it had just been her imagination, she had been sure Clay had wanted to say something, maybe he had wanted to oppose to that decision...yet it had happened too quickly for her to be sure.

She shook her head, that was going to be a first for her...she had never fought alongside so many people before. She wondered for a moment how many of them were going to survive the long night ahead of them, but her musings were interruped by Seth's voice, she turned toward the voice and saw him talking to Clay. He looked calm, but from the tone of his voice she didn't have trouble guessing he was incredibly pissed off in that moment.

"About the civillians...are you sure they aren't going to get in the way?"

Clay's voice when he replied was cold, but Kate could hear the anger and the loathing in it. She narrowed her eyes, focusing on Seth...he didn't look like the man who had come back to the motor hom that afternoon...if Clay thought that fucking with Seth's head would be easy he was in for a fucking surprise!

The man facing Clay was one no one could fuck with.

Yet, she couldn't help thinking that when she had woken up in her motor home only to find it empty, for a moment she had feared that despite what they had said before making love, Seth had decided to leave her.

For a moment she had feared he might have left her...for her own good. Before rage and pain could kick in, she had found his note on the table and had let out a nervous chuckle when had read that he had just some errands to do and that someone from the Church would come and pick her up.

She shook her head, breaking her thoughts, focusing on the impending pissing contest between Seth and Clay. The cop might look calm, friendly even ...but the tone of his voice prompted her to take a step forward toward them.

"We've been working on containing them for days...didn't you notice how quiet the town is?"

Before Seth or she could say anything, Marcus took a step toward them, effectively stopping the two men from going further; she had noticed that the priest had been looking at the two of them as well. She had to admit she had been wrong about the priest...she had believed it was just one of the many vampire killers priest...who just provided vampire killers with Holy water and words.

How wrong she had been. Marcus was a fighter, just like them... but he was a servant of God...a servant of God who didn't particularly appreciate the pissing contest between Clay and Seth.

Marcus got closer to the men, silently inviting her with his eyes to do the same and said, "I'll be in the backline of your group..."

It was comforting, somehow, to know that he'd be fighting as well, that he'd be taking care of stuff outside the club where they would fight.

Marcus narrowed his eyes for a moment and she noticed how the look in them darkned for a moment before he said, "We'll send them all back to hell...whatever it takes!"

He was a warrior...just like them, and the hardness in his eyes was just another proof of it.

The icy look in his eyes didn't last long though, he smiled before he turned and gestured with a nod of his head toward a few women in the room, who started distributing brown paper bags to the vampire killers in the room.

Kate held the brown paper bag in her hands when one of the women gave it to her but before she could ask what it was all about, Marcus said aloud, "What you're all holding in your hands are ammos...so to speak: it's holy water and oil" He stopped talking for a moment and then added, "May God bless us all tonight"

No one spoke for a moment, after Marcus said the last words...Kate felt her heart beating a little too fast...as the vampire killers started leaving the basement in small groups...they were really going to fight. They were done talking. They would soon scatter throughout in small groups not to arise too many suspicions which, according to Seth would be useless.

"They are vampires...they are predators, they fucking smell trouble!" Seth had said shaking his head...and yet he hadn't objected to the plan.

In a minute she would leave the Chruch as well to go and fight the fight and Marcus' blessing still echoed in her mind. She buttoned her coat and took some steps but stopped when she saw Chris and Clay: the woman had stopped in front of Clay and Kate noticed the way they locked gazes for a moment, before she rested her hand on his chest for a moment. It only lasted a moment and then she wordlessly left the room...and Kate couldn't help' blinking in surprise when Clay, who looked totally oblivious of the other people in the room, took from a chain he was wearing under his sweater a silver ring and put it on his left ring finger.

It was a silver ring fucking similar to the one se ha noticed on Chris' ring finger.

Kate was surprised by what she had just seen...were there the same assholes who had been giving them hell ever since that morning? The ones who had pushed their buttons?

The ones who had tried to divide Seth and she?

She shook her head filing away the image she had seen and looked around with her eyes for Seth.

She hadn't even noticed that he had joined the little group of vampire killers with which he had to leave the Church.

He was listening - or pretending – to what some of the vampire killers were saying, his face was set and she noticed from the way he was keeping his head low and how much he was clenching his jaws...that he was itching not to use his 44 on them.

She felt the little smile that had crept up on her lips fading, when fear, hot and white crawled at her stomach, leaving her breathless for a moment.

Afraid...she was afraid for Seth...for what was going to happen when they left the Church.

It didn't last long, though. Kate had long learned how to live with fear, how to ignore it. After all, fear was a monster...just like the fuckers she had been killing for years.

She ignored the fear and the only thing left in her, was the almost physical need to run to Seth...and hug him...despite what their lives were and the dangers those vampire killers posed for them.

Although she wanted to, she didn't get close to Seth. In the end the discipline won over...and besides she wasn't sure Seth would appreciate something like that. It wasn't what they were.

Once, a couple of days ago, after making love Seth had reminded her that he'd never turn into prince charming...until a few hours before that had been the only time he had ever said something about his past.

_Do you remember what I am, Kate? Do you remember who I am?_

Seth Gecko definitely wasn't fucking prince charming...nevertheless he was the man who had given back faith to his father.

He was the man who had saved her life.

He wasn't fucking prince charming...but she loved him all the same.

He was the man who...was getting closer to her!

He smiled when he was in front of her and took her hand, letting slip something in her palm.

They locked gazes and Kate felt her fears fade away...it was his eyes, she decided, and the love, the passion, the fire she could glimpse in them. For her.

Could he do the same? Apparently he did, because he tilted his head on a side for a moment before leaving, without saying anything.

She watched as he left the basement and, for a moment, the only thing she was aware of was the fast beating of her heart in her chest, she could feel it hammering in her throat, so much that she had to swallow once twice.

She tilted her head down, looking at her left hand, still closed in a fist, she slowly opened it and when she did, she couldn't help smiling.

In her palm sparkled a little golden cross, it was perfect for the thin chain she always wore.

Her smile widened when she thought back at when she had woken up and Seth hadn't been on the Motor home. In the note he had left for her Seth had written he had some things to do. She sure as hell didn't imagine anything like that!

She shook her head, closing her hand in a fist and looked around, noticing that the basement was now almost empty, she saw a small group of vampire killers leaving the room and at the same time Marcus, got close to her saying, "Jack...he asked me to Bless something for you this afternoon"

Kate turned toward the priest, frowning in surprise, while he continued, "God works in mysterious ways, Kate" He softly smiled at her and added, "And He knows the hearts of His children...all of them!"

Marcus didn't add anything more, he didn't need to: he knew. He knew about Seth. Kate was sure about that, she felt it in her gut...from the way he had slowly said Jack's name, to the other words he had said. Marcus knew about Seth and he couldn't care less about it.

She didn't know whether he knew about what Clay and Chris had been doing, what she felt, though, was that he had no part in it.

Marcus looked around before saying, "Ready to go, Kate?"

Kate smiled looking down at the cross in her hand for a moment, before saying, "Now I am, Marcus. Now I am!"


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: **it' taking forever to update, I know…and I'm sorry! Thanks to those who have been writing: )

The parts in italics are recollections….as always sorry for the grammar mistakes, I'm flyng solo on this one :)

* * *

_T_he Church was almost empty, now. Even the last group of vampire killers had left: men and women ready and willing to fight the fight, to die for it.

Marcus was about to leave the Church as well, he was just making sure everything was ready for when they came back...if someone did. There were still vampire killers in the basement, while he was upstairs, in the Church itself; he was kneeling in front of the altar and while he slowly stood up he couldn't help going back with his mind to what had happened that afternoon.

He had been praying, knelt in front of the altar, hoping to be strong enough..hoping to have enough faith to rid his town from those demons.

He had clearly heard the footsteps behind him and even from them he had known who it was.

He had turned, noticing that the man had his hands in the pockets of his coat.

To a casual observer the man would have looked sure of himself, arrogant even...but he had noticed the thin lines around his mouth...and the look in his eyes.

The look in the man's eyes had been worried...he had looked like a man who had been living a strong inner conflict...a new occurence for him.

Jack, the man who had been behind him, had looked distraught, scared...although Marcus had been sure that he wouldn't have ammitted that, not even under torture.

He was thinking now, while he was putting on his coat, about the fact that Jack had asked him to bless something for him that afternoon, a tiny golden cross.

"_She..." Jack had said in low voice, after he had blessed the cross, "she had a cross like this when I met her. She lost it...because of me."_

Jack hadn't said anything for a moment and Marcus had somehow known that the woman Jack had been talking about was Kate.

_He hadn't been surprised and his face hadn't shown any, even when Jack had added, "She has lost her whole family because of me. She's lost six years, because of me!"_

Now, while he was taking his backpack, Marcus couldn't help hearing Jack'ws words, loud and clear in his mind...he could even hear the bitterness in them.

_Jack had looked at him and then he had stuck his hand in the pocket of his coat, hiding the box. He had turned, but he hadn't taken but a step before he said, "I made a promise to myself...I promised I wouldn't leave her alone...but I don't know if I can keep that promise..."_

_Jack had turned again to look at him and had smiled...and it had been a bitter smile. Jack had shrugged and in a calm, emotionless voice had added, "For a killer like me, not keeping a promise shouldn't be a big deal...yet it is..."_

_Marcus had taken a step toward him, without speaking, he had feard that if Jack had heard his voice he would have left the church. _

_It hadn't happened. _

_Jack had sat on one of the pews and had slipped his hands off the pockets of his coat. _

Marcus could recall now as he took a bag from under a pew, the hesitation in Jack's gestures and that only then had he noticed that he had been holding an envelope in his hands.

_Jack had looked at him and Marcus had gotten closer to him, sitting behind him, only then Jack without even looking at him had handed him the envelope and had said, "Give it to Kate, tomorrow..."_

And Marcus had realized, just hearing the matter-of-factly tone of Jack's voice, that he hadn't even contemplated the idea that Kate might have died that night. On the contrary...that letter had seemed to bode something very different.

"_The letter...that was a first for me..." Jack had said almost pensively. He hadn't said anything for a moment and then had said in a calm voice, "They'll try to kill me..."_

_Marcus had just cocked an eyebrow at his words but Jack had been quick...so much that his eyes almost hadn't had time to register his movements when the man had firmly grabbed his wrist, yet his voice had been still calm, unnaturally so, while he had continued, "I'm not talking about vampires, priest! What I'm saying is that I won't be able to keep my promise, not the one to Kate!"_

Jack had strongly believed in what he had just told him, but Marcus had been under the impression that the other man hadn't been too worried about his fate.

The prospect of dying hadn't seemed to have any effect on Jack.

He had just seemed worried for Kate...worried about leaving her alone. His main concern had been about a promise he hadn't been sure he could keep.

_He had nodded at Jack's words and only then had the man let go of his wrist; Marcus had stuck the envelope in the pocket of his jacket before asking, "Why?"_

_Jack had actually laughed at his question...and Marcus had glimpsed glimmers of real desperation in that laughter. He had kept looking at him while his face had become serious and then Jack had said, "Because I can't fu..." Jack had stopped talking and had ground his teeth before saying, "because I can't ruin things, not this time. She's the only person I give a damn about, priest. I gotta protect her..." _

Marcus couldn't stop thinking about Jack...about what he had said, about who he was: the vampire killer, the murderer.

It was strange how Jack hadn't even said the word love that afternoon and yet his love for that girl had been there...in his voice, in every word, every gesture that man had made.

Jack hadn't talked after he had said he wanted to protect Kate...and Marcus had looked at him, while his brain had finally registered the other words the other man had said.

"_You said you are a killer" He had said. _

"_I know what I said!" Jack had curtly replied. _

"_What are you talking about?" He had asked, expecting anger from that man...or his refusal to speak, to answer to his question. _

_Jack had surprised him, though, he had looked at him...and his eyes had been dark pools of fury and pain and his voice had been low when he had said, "I'm talking about someone who doesn't even exist anymore...someone who died after he staked his brother._

_I was a thief, a killer..."_

_Jack had stopped talking, he had blinked once twice and when he had started talking again, the tone of his voice had been harsh, "The guy who got ouy of that bar...he only thought about killing vampires, bringing them back to hell..._

_Seth Gecko really died that night...it just took me a while to get that!"_

The air outside the Church was cold, and the town was dipped in silence...it was unnaturally quiet.

Marcus slowly got close to the car where the other vampire killers of his group were waiting for him...and yet he couldn't shake the conversation he had had with Jack - or Seth, that was the man's real name – out of his head. He couldn't stop thinking about Kate, either.

He thought about what had happened a few minutes before in the Church between Seth and Kate.

He had watched them, the way they behaved around each other...he had even watched the other vampire killers, and he felt that some of them were hiding something.

He feared for what was about to happen, he feared for the fate of the men and women who would fight against monsters that were taking over his town.

He feared for the vampire killers who were hiding something, Clay and Chris, especially.

He feared for their souls.

He feared for Seth...and for Kate, because they would soon face more dangers all at the same time.

He was worried about Seth, especially, because he feared that while trying to protect the woman he loved, he would end up destroying her by trying to escape...or worse, getting himself killed, that night.

He sighed while he got into the car.

Their battle was beginning: the one to save Meadows Lyne...and the one, the most important one, to save their souls.

Chapter 5

-_The Fight_-

_**I**__n my opinion seeing is to know, what_

_You give will always carry you. _

_Who's to say we won't survive it too?_

* * *

_T_he Cleaves was one of the most luxurious clubs Seth had ever seen, it was totally different than the shit holes where he usually hunt for vampires.

It was huge, it had two floors, and there were lots of mirrors, leather chairs and plexiglass tables.

Yet although it was different than the usual shit holes, it reminded Seth of the Titty Twister...maybe it was the way the bloodsuckers moved, how they danced with the humans.

Or maybe it was the smell...it had hit his senses the moment he had gotten inside...and was turning his stomach.

The priest was right, he decided, there were lots of clubs in that town, but the Cleaves was where it all started.

When he had gotten to the club Clay had been right behind him, he had felt his eyes on him and Chris had already been sitting at the bar, looking totally different than the woman he had met that morning, she had combed her hair so that it hid the scar on her face, even the clothes were different, more stylish, she had been talking to another vampire killer, and her whole demeanor was a big red harring, it seemed to scream: "Fuck me senseless!"

She was good, he had to give her that. At least judging by how many bloodsuckers were around her, thinking they were playing with her.

He took position next to the bar, his back to a wall and looked around, carefully avoiding to look for Kate.

That was not the moment to think about Kate. He had to keep his fucking shit together...now more than ever.

He took a quick look around, searching for potential weapons: he noticed that there weren't many wooden objects, but that didn't surprise or worry him.

He had his fair share of stakes with him, hidden with the other weapons under his coat. He was armed and surrounded by vampires.

He had troubles recalling a time where recognizing bloodsuckers on the spot hadn't been second nature for him, maybe because it just took a look to recognize the bastards, now.

He looked at the other vampire killers, there were a lots of them...but not enough for those vampires and Seth knew that things shouldn't be very different in the other clubs of the town

He leaned against the wall, while he sideglanced a woman, she was tall, her long dark hair was loose on her shoulder, she was wearing a tight short blood red dress, and she was getting close to him.

She was a vampire...and he was supposed to be her dinner.

In a few hours hell would break loose...he decided right then to fuck off every thought, plan or idea that didn't concern the immediate future and the Cleaves.

Because hell would break loose outside...but it looked like things weren't going to be a walk in the park for him.

He smiled at the vampire when she sat next to him and offered to buy him a drink.

He cast another glance at Chris, who was now laughing at something a blonde ape-like bloodsucker was telling her.

No...he couldn't care less about what happened outside the Cleaves...because there were vampires and vampire killers he had to keep the fuck away from Kate.

He didn't even notice he hadn't thought about his safety...he wasn't interested in it.

It was Kate who mattered to him...Kate and the promise he wouldn't be able to keep.

* * *

_T_he upper floor of the Cleaves was lit by soft, blue and amber lights, Kate noticed the leather couches and the vampire and vampire killers sitting on them, playing their parts.

The show had begun...and they were all in place, including her.

She was standing, leaning against a pillar, keeping an eye on the people, guarding the perimeter, so to speak. She liked where she was, she could see everything without being seen.

She was checking the doors, now...and it wasn't even the first time ever since she had gotten into the club.

Although Seth had left the Church before she did, he had gottento to the Cleaves after she had, when she had already gotten to the upper floor of the club.

She had seen the way he had looked around as he entered the club, as if he owned the place, his hands in the pockets of his coat, which she knew hid all kind of weapons against the fuckers who were on the prowl that night.

She had smiled looking at him, despite the impeding fight, despite Clay and Chris. The man who had gotten into the club had been ready and willing to fight, there hadn't been hints of the confusion she had seen in his eyes and his words that afternoon.

He had been self-assured, fearless...and breathtakingly sexy.

She had watched him, as he took his place at the bar, smiling despite being surrounded by vampires and vampire killers.

And she had smiled as well, finding strength in his, before going back to inspecting the club.

The Cleaves was huge, it was way bigger than any of the other places where she had ever fought, vampires were everywhere around them, playing with humans...were they aware that they were vampire killers? Did they somehow feel it?

Kate frowned, while she kept looking around and noticed Chris, she had already been in the club when she had arrived, and she was sitting now not very far from Seth.

Chris didn't even look like the woman she had met that morning, it wasn't just her clothes or the fact that she had combed her hair so that it hid the scar on her face...no, it was the fact that she was playing a part, now, she was flirting with a man...a vampire, a blonde giant...and she was playing by that fucker's rules.

She looked like the perfect victim, on the outside.

Yet, despite playing her part, Chris kept casting sideways glances at Seth, she was still keeping an eye on him and the same was doing Clay who was talking to a few vampire killers and for the moment wasn't approaching or being approached by any vampire.

Kate lightly shook her head, she would deal with the vampire killers when time would come, she couldn't afford to lose her focus, not in that moment, not when shit was going to hit the fan any minute, now.

She took another look around, making sure she hadn't missed anything, she was sure she had identified most of the vampires in the club and she already suspected that some of them would be mean motherfuckers...once the party began, some of them looked really tough.

She took a few steps, continuing her inspection, trying to figure out from where the other vampires would come...because she was sure there would be others..it always happened, there were always other vampires in the nests, ready to replace the ones killed and finish off what they had started.

_Ready to have their revenge, after..._

A voice in the back of her mind, which she immediately shut up, suggested.

As much as she tried, she couldn't figure out where other entrances might be and that made her think about something else she had noticed when she had gotten into the club: there weren't wooden or steel doors at the entrance, she had wondered and still did how would they trap them inside the club, once they decided to stop playing their fucking charade.

Because she was sure things would go like that. The Cleaves might be different in appearence, but it was in the outskirts of the town and the vampires in the club were following the same fucking m.o of the hundreds she had fought and killed for the past six years: they were tricking the potential victims with promises of passion, they were dazing them with booze, with their skins, with their bodies, ready to strike when time would come.

Kate kept walking, brushing her shoulders against vampires', smiling to them, making small talk with them.

She kept a hand on the rail of the balcony...from where she was she could see the whole club and despite her intentions she couldn't help casting another glance at Seth and at the woman, the vampire who was standing next to him: she was tall, with long, dark, black hair, she was wearing a tight red dress, a "fuck me" dress which matched her attitude...she was laughing at something Seth was saying, and she had to admit they were both good at pretending.

Kate crossed her arms against her chest, watching Seth and the vampire closely. She knew Seth well enough to know that he probably knew about the true nature of the woman who was coming onto him.

Kate was sure that the vampire was going to be a mean bitch to kill...at least judging by how fit she looked.

That vampire, she thought with a smile, didn't stand a chance, though. Seth was really good at playing his part...the red dressed bitch wouldn't know what hit her.

She couldn't imagine what he was capable of, she couldn't even fathom the visceral hatred, hidden behind his smiles and gestures.

She shook her head as she averted her gaze and went back to look around: they were all in position, both the vampire killers who were interacting with vampires and those who, like her, were lightly apart and had to keep an eye on the club, the vampires and their m.o...and who would back up the other vampire killers once the fight begun.

She knew it wouldn't take long before the vampires decided to quit playing, she could already see the first signs of the impending change: the vampires' bodies were moving more sinously, almost rubbing against the humans' bodies, there were more people in the club and the two bouncers – both impossibly tall and bulky, both with shaved hair and ape-like faces, had taken position at the entrance of the club.

She didn't remember her senses ever being so honed, everything was incredibly vivid in that moment, so much that she didn't have any trouble in hearing footsteps behind her, despite the cacophony of voices and music surrounding her.

She took a sip from her beer bottle, while she turned and saw Clay.

The fact that the cop was there, that he had gone looking for her hadn't come as a surprise to her...not after what had happened that afternoon. The son of a bitch was actually smiling at her, and much as she tried she couldn't sense anything malicious in his attitude...which puzzled her. What the fuck was his damned problem? He was smiling at her as if they were old friends...rather than strangers bound only by common hatred toward vampires.

He was fucking smiling at her...almost as if he hadn't tried to fuck with Seth's mind that very afternoon!

Clay reached out his left hand to her, offering her a glass filled with whiskey and only then did she noticed the thin silver band on his ring finger, before he casually said, "The place is almost packed..."

Kate didn't move, didn't accept the glass he was offering, and when he looked at her puzzled she just showed him her bottle; Clay shrugged before drinking the whiskey he had brought her, she looked around and said, "Yep...and the night is still young..."

Clay narrowed his eyes and followed her gaze around the club, and Kate noticed how relaxed he looked, so unlike the man she had known that morning.

He wasn't an amateur, she thought, none of the people in that club was. They were all mean motherficking vampire killers, waiting for the fight to begin.

Clay interrupted her train of thoughts saying, "I was wondering where you where..."

She met his gaze and, once again, she couldn't see any hidden scheme in his gaze, behind his blue eyes.

"I'd rather not mingling in...not now, at least..." Clay interrupted her words, by taking a step toward her, and she was surprised when she was tempted to take a step back, to get away from him.

Since when she was afraid of a man? Since when she was tempted to step back?

They were both leaning against the rail and Kate's shoulders were against a pillar, she was virtually blocked, now. She didn't have a way out...that man could gut her if he wanted and amidst that din, no one would probably even notice.

But he didn't want to kill her...there wasn't any hated in his eyes...it was that lack of hatred that had scared her almost into stepping back.

It was an unnatural look...in a place like that, in a night like that...it was an unnatural look for the kind of people they were.

"Kate" Clay softly said, and the venom she had heard in his voice, the loathing, the contempt, was nowhere to be heard. Fuck...she wasn't used to dealing with people with soft voices and caring eyes, not any more! She could deal with assholes without breaking a sweat, but that kind of concern actually fucking scared her!

"Kate..." Clay said again, "If you decided to leave now, to stay outside or go back to the Church it'd be better.

You'd be safer!"

Kate arched her eyebrows hearing his words.

What the hell had he gotten into his mind? Did he really think that she could give up on the fight like that?

Did he really believe that she could leave Seth on his own...among vampires and vampire killers ready to tear him to pieces?

Clay didn't wait for her reply, he went on and his voice became even more softer...in contrast with the hardness in his eyes while he whispered, "I bet even **he** would agree with me on that..."

Kate looked at him, puzzled.

She had no doubts Seth would probably agree with the cop, on that.

Seth wanted to protect her from the life she had chosen for herself...he felt responsible - **he** of all people! - for things he couldn't have foreseen in a million of years...and because of that had let other people try and fuck with his mind.

_Go home, Kate..._

_I am home, Seth..._

She smiled at Clay, while she held tightly the bottle in her hands as she said, "I'm not going anywhere, Clay!"

Clay smiled as well. He shrugged his shoulders and she followed his gaze, noticing that he was looking at Seth who kept playing with the female vampire.

Kate noticed the way Clay looked at Seth, the way he was studying him and she couldn't help thinking that he probably looked at suspects, criminals the same way on his day job.

And indeed it was the cop, not the vampire killer who spoke a few seconds later when he said, "He's good...at killing"

Only then did he look at her before sipping from his glass.

Seth was right, she had no doubts about that: Clay knew...somehow he had known about Seth's past...and even now he was trying to use it...to push her away from him or confuse her maybe.

What the fuck did he expect her to do? What reaction did he want from her?

"Just like everybody else in this place" She found herself saying, ignoring her thoughts and Clay's insinuations

Clay lightly shook his head, and Kate noticed the way his smile faded as he said, "He is..."

"I know who he is!" She curtly interrupted him.

"Do you? Really?" Clay asked, and there was genuine curiosity in his voice, now.

She knew who Seth was...she knew him...she had seen him at his worst...she had seen him in hell.

But she knew the good in him too, she had glimpsed it six years before...and had seen and fallen in love with the man that had borne from that night's ashes...just like she had fallen in love with the worst part of him.

She took a look at Seth and another, truer smile crossed her features.

Seth too was smiling, he was smiling as he chatted with the vampire. She noticed how he was still holding a glass in his hand, a still full glass, and her senses, so honed, allowed her to clearly see, even at that distance, his features.

She saw the thin lines around his eyes, she even glimpsed the black lines of his tattoo, that the turtleneck he was wearing couldn't completely conceal.

Oh, yes, she knew that man...so well, so deeply that it took her breath away.

And she remembered...she recalled every single instant in that moment, from the moment Seth had suddenly stepped in front of her motor home, six years before, slowly sipping a beer, impishly smiling.

She recalled how Seth had taught her how to drink whiskey.

She recalled how he had saved Scott and she at The Titty Twister.

She recalled...his kisses, burning fire who had brought her back to life...

She recalled the taste of his skin, the smell of their bodies, the sound of his heartbeat beating strongly under her palm.

She recalled...his smile when in the Church he had given her that cross: a small, thin golden cross, so similar to the one she used to wear before the Titty Twister.

_Do you? Really?_

"Yes" She just answered to Clay's question.

She knew Seth so well that she understood in a moment of perfect, clarity the meaning of that gift.

Seth wanted to give her life back.

He wanted to keep the promise he had made to his father, whatever it took. And she knew that he was a resolute son of a bitch, she knew that he wasn't going to budge.

Suddenly she couldn't look at Seth any more, she had to turn and look at Clay.

Seth might be a resolute son of a bitch, but she wasn't going to make things simple for him.

Not that time.

"I love him, Clay..." She said. And she was surprised by how easily those words had come out from her mouth. She was surprised by how calm she had sounded. She took a step forward toward Clay, shortening the distance between them and added in a voice barely above a whisper, "And should something, **anything** happen to him because of you...you won't have to fear vampires, you guys won't need to!"

She tilted her head up to better look at him, to make sure he had taken her seriously.

Because she was fucking serious in that moment.

And it looked like Clay had gotten that, because he nodded, almost as if he had expected that reaction from her.

"He's dangerous, Kate..." He said and, once more, there was concern in his eyes, "Very dangerous. I just hope you realize that."

Kate just nodded at Clay's words. She knew that Seth could be dangerous...for their fight, because of his past, because of his very nature, it didn't take a genius to figure it out! And she knew that Seth knew that as well.

_Do you remember what I am, Kate? Do you remember __**who **__I am?_

She all but started when she felt Clay's hand on her shoulder. She blinked, when she realized that there wasn't anything remotely intimidating or calculated in his gesture...his touch was gentle...almost fatherly.

There weren't roles he was playing in that moment, neither the bad cop or the mean vampire killer...he was just a man, genuinely worried about her.

Yet his voice was sharp, so unlike his gestures, when he said, "We have to do what it needs to be done, Kate. It's our life!"

Kate swallowed as she turned her head to look toward Seth. She was probably the only one in the club who could see the tension in his body: Seth was ready to fight. She went with her mind to that afternoon, to the way he had kissed her and held her as they made love.

There had been passion between them, a burning desire that had consumed them to the core...but the echoes of the words they had exchanged before making love, had lingered in his kisses, in the way he had touched her.

There had still been echoes of the words he had said, when he had told her that it'd be better if they were apart for a while...because he had thought it was the right thing to do.

Because even if it killed them, they did what it needed to be done...

Because it was the cardinal rule of the life they had chosen.

Seth had given her a cross before leaving the Church, before doing what he thought it needed to be done.

She blinked her eyes: Clay's hand was still on her shoulder, his touch was still soft.

And her eyes...her eyes stung...and were heavy with the tears she felt coming and that were threatening to fill her eyes; she could feel their bitter taste in her throat.

_Oh, Seth..._she thought: _what the hell are you going to do?_

She didn't look at Clay, her eyes were still fixed on Seth, the man she loved as she said, "You don't get it Clay...that's his life too!"


	25. Chapter 25

_K_ate was looking at him. Although he hadn't looked for her and had purposely avoided to look toward her, Seth knew where she was in that moment.

Just like he knew that she was looking at him, he could feel her eyes on him.

He knew that she wasn't alone...that Clay was with her.

He had seen the cop climbing the stairs that led to the upper floor of the club...and since he had Chris at his heels, it was only logical that Clay would deal with Kate.

The reason he wasn't on the upper floor beating Clay into a bloody pulp for daring getting too close to Kate was that she was safe, for now. From vampire killers at least...they both were until the real fight began.

Seth looked around, he knew that it wouldn't be long, now. The club was full and vampires and vampires killers alike were in position, just like the two thugs at the entrance and the maids, placed in strategic points in the club.

Seth had to give credit to the vampires of that town, at least they were guarding their fucking perimeter!

They would soon stop that fucking charade, he hoped...and the vampire killers would do the same. He took a sip from the glass he was holding, the still full glass. He hadn't drunk a lot so far. He could hold his liqueur and if that had been a normal patrol, he would have probably drunk a couple of shots of booze; not that night, though. He had to keep it together, there was too much at stake.

He cast a glance at Chris: just like him she was leaning against the counter and was flirting with a couple of vampires.

Seth had noticed that she had barely drunk from her glass.

He smiled as he replied to something the vampire bitch was telling him. She had kept touching him, becoming bolder and bolder as the minutes passed, she was all but rubbing against him...and Seth had let her.

He was playing by the rules...to have the chance to fucking ram a stake through her rotten heart.

That bitch reminded him too much of Santanico Pandemonium, she moved like her, there was the same air of sensuality about her, even the voice, was so much like Santanico's. He still recalled the way she had gloated after she had killed Richie.

And he hated her tight red dress, it reminded him of the one Santanico had been wearing in one of his nightmares.

He took a look at the vampire opposite him, she was going to be strong when the fight began...but he wasn't really concerned about her strength.

He just wanted her hands off of him, and her body turned into a smelly green puddle!

She took a step toward him, further shortening the distance between them, she was as tall as he, and he could clearly see her eyes.

Did they really think they could fool anybody? They could rub their bodies against theirs as much as they wanted, they could laugh, talk and smell like humans...but their eyes and the look in them was unmistakably inhuman.

That bitch saw him as food. And in her dark eyes Seth could glimpse the wait...and the hunger.

Yet, he allowed her to circle his waist with an arm and close the distance between them...and he circled her neck with his arm.

Only then did he look up, toward Kate.

He had avoided to look at her, trying to focus only on the mission...on what it needed to be done.

Just like he had suspected, Clay was next to Kate: they were talking and from the tension he could see in Kate's body, he guessed that they weren't having a pleasant conversation.

No one else would probably even notice how tense Kate really was, but he saw the way she was holding the beer's bottle and the light twitch in her fingers.

She moved and Seth smiled thinking that no one would probably notice the weapons she was hiding underneath her coat.

Unlike many vampire killers', Kate's clothes' weren't that different than the ones she usually wore, only her hair was picked up, twisted in a bun held together by a wooden stiletto.

He looked away, he really didn't want to start looking like a fucking lovestruck teenager!

Yet…for a moment, just a moment…he did feel breathless, especially when he felt her eyes on him and unable to resist he turned and met her smile…her watery smile.

Six years before he had witnessed as she lost her whole family…and kept fighting.

He had pushed her to fight, he had forbidden her to cry…and she had obliged, in fact he didn't think he had ever seen tears in her eyes.

She herself had told him she didn't have any tears left.

Yet, he could see tears in her eyes, now, as Clay talked to her.

And somehow he knew he was causing them. Yet, even then, especially then, he couldn't see sorrow in her eyes.

Just love. Love for him.

And tears, for him, probably caused by Clay's words.

Kate shook her head, as if to shake away the tears, and attempted another, more watery smile, but before he could do anything, like, for example, shoot Clay in the fucking head, take Kate, get out of the Cleaves and forget about the whole mess with the bloodsuckers, the music in the bar faded together with the lights.

The voices, the noises stopped at once, and he found himself following Kate's gaze that quickly moved toward a platform where a dj had been playing such horrible music that Seth had been wishing he would just turn into a vampire so that he could beat the shit out of him before staking him.

The dj was gone...but there was a man on the platform, now...rather, a vampire – the vampire...those fucker's boss.

He was tall, muscular, dark haired, dressed in an expensive black suit.

He looked like a businessman, and Seth had no trouble seeing satisfaction and intelligence sparkling in the vampire's brown eyes.

_We might be in trouble, here..._

He thought looking around, seeing all the vampires taking position.

The vampire onstage took a microphone and in a soft, almost hypnotic voice said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Cleaves! I hope you've been enjoying your evening..."

The vampire next to him, the brunette bitch strengthened her hold on his waist and Seth just had to take a look around in the club to notice that all the vampires in the club had pretty much taken position to strike their preys when the vampire on stage had talked.

So, he was the boss...that didn't come as a surprise. He was the one that was going to drop that fucking charade.

_About damn time!_

He looked at the vampire on stage, he saw his lips stretching in a smile, and his eyes filling with real joy as he said, "I really hope you did, since...you are all about to die!" The vampire didn't wait for their reactions and went on saying, "Lights, please!"

It was a matter of seconds and Seth wasn't surprised...after all it was always a matter of seconds.

It had been a matter of seconds six years before, when he had fucked up with his gun...it had been just few seconds...but it had been enough to change his life forever.

And every night after that, it had always been a matter of seconds, istants...enough to make the difference between living and dying.

It had been a matter of seconds with Kate...to leave her alone in Mexico, and six years later to get back into her life.

Few instants and his senses so honed that he caught every single movement in the room at once and could be ready.

Few instants...to strenghten his hold on the vampire bitch as he closed his eyes at the vampire's words.

Few instants...and then flashes of light, that he perceived through his closed eyelids and he could hear the cries of human and vampires alike filling the room.

A matter of few instants to turn his hold on the vampire in a vice strong enought to snap her neck and buy him some more time...to stake her in the dark.

Ever since he had come to the club, he had stayed with his back to the wall, so that no one could sneak up on him.

Sure, he considered, as he used another stake against someone, hopefully a vampire that he had felt launching at him, he hadn't expected to be fighting in the dark.

That was a first, even for him.

He opened his eyes: light at least. He he had just a moment to adjust to the light as he saw vampires viciously attacking humans and the other vampire killers fighting them, their faces so similar: masks of hatred and determination.

Another vampire, a blonde woman whose face was so disgustingly covered with green , launched at him, she had been swift, and Seth quickly moved the stake from his right hand to the left and used it to thrust it into her...fuck! between the vampire's tits; the fucker had thrown herself at him: she had been a blonde little thing, her face covered with greenish tumors that had made him wish for another fucking blackout.

The vampire staggered in surprise, then she tilted her head down noticing the hole between her breasts. Seth could feel the vampire's heart pulsing in his right hand and used the stake he was gripping with his left to pierce blondie's heart and just cocked an eyebrow at the little shit, as the surprised look didn't leave her ugly face, not even when she dropped on the pavement.

Seth threw the vampire's heart on the pavement, and gripped the stake tighter just before he dodged another vampire's attack, another woman – what the fuck was that shit anyway? – she was a red-head, as tall as him, built like a brick wall. She snarled at him, showing little, sharp, piranha like teeth and Seth moved, jabbing her in the face when she attacked him, making her step back.

Taking advantage of her momentary confusion, Seth threw the stake at her, aiming right at her heart. The vampire let out a hoarse scream, before dropping to the ground, atop the blonde vampire's body.

Not losing one moment, Seth took the gun from his waistband, and shot five times, taking down as many approaching vampires with blessed bullets.

Granted, he hadn't expected the beginning: fighting in the dark had been a first for him, he had to give those son of a bitches that…but he was getting on board with the plan, he fired his gun twice, while with his left hand he was already taking other bullets from his pocket.

Yes, those first few seconds of pitch darkness followed by blind light had been a first for him. Too bad they hadn't changed shit

As always it was a matter of seconds. All his doubts, the plans, the doubts had been wiped away in a few fucking seconds.

The fight had begun…and he had fought in worse conditions.

And there was something else: he had a mission to accomplish that night. Whatever it took.

_H_is name, the one he had chosen for himself was Vincent. When he was alive…a long time before, his name had been…something else, something that didn't matter.

He was known as Vincent. He had travelled for a long time, after his house had been destroyed. He had seen groups of men…of *food*, becoming strong, becoming organized…growing in number.

He had seen those men, those sack of meat and blood forgetting their roles, forgetting who was in charge, really.

He had seen vampires starting to be afraid….of humans, men whose skin and limbs they could tear apart without breaking a sweat.

Vampires…afraid!

He had seen chaos, he had seen unbalance and vampires too stupid to think about defending themselves. He had seen vampires too stupid to grasp anything but the basic need to feed…and the primal instinct of fear; vampires too stupid to remember that they were stronger than humans. They were immortals, they were powerful.

The solution to their problems had been actually simple…humans who were hunting them were growing in number more and more

The only thing vampire had to do to survive was to do the same…to be too many for humans to even think about defeating them.

He had travelled for a long time…seeing small towns and metropolis…he had been silent, lethal, true to his nature: a predator, a winner.

He knew not many vampires understood him, his way of thinking…they weren't used to thinking on a bigger scale. They had forgotten what it mean to be human, to be food, to be food. He hadn't, maybe that was the reason they didn't get him, they didn't understand him.

Not that it mattered to Vincent, he didn't care about them understanding…it had been enough to be heard. What he had needed from other vampires had been means and to be obeyed, and they had been only too happy to oblige…so lost and desperate for a direction.

He had carefully chosen the place to lay his nest, to repopulate: Meadows Lyne, a town, not too small, but cut away from bigger centres. He had carefully chosen the places to use to repopulate their kind, and he had worked hard so that they were perfect for his goal.

He had taken his time, making sure not to attract unwanted attention at the beginning, he hadn't wanted to fuck up his plan. He had known humans eventually would have noticed what was going…but it hadn't really concerned Vincent.

He had also taken into account that humans that hunted them would try to get together, but it had been a smaller concern: Meadows Lyne's vampire hunters had been few and scared. He had thought they would be asking for help…and they hadn't disappointed him.

There were many of them that night at Cleaves…and he was pretty sure there were many of them in the other spots scattered throughout the town.

There were many of them…and they were strong, trained…but they were just food…and his new family, the vampires he had made and the others were just as strong and trained.

Humans were food…their food. Their bodies were frail, easy to break, even vampire killers', just like the other humans', their blood was just as good and easy to drink, like the others…of all the others

There was a fight going on that night at Cleaves, and from his position, hidden from the others, Vincent could see everything and everyone, unnoticed.

They were fighting…and blood was spilling: inviting, warm and thick…and if he hadn't joined the others was just for a slight sense of worry that had been tickling him for some minutes.

Some of those humans were really good fighters…they were, in fact, too good. Some of those humans were dangerous. Not all of them, of course…but they were strong enough that he was worried.

He took a moment to give another look to the humans who worried him: the stronger, among them, was probably the man with long, black, coat. He was fighting near the bar, his sweater couldn't hide the lines of his tribal tattoo.

He had been fighting…and killed literally with his eyes closed, his back pressed against the wall, an almost preternatural ability to sense danger around him, to dodge attacks, a deadly aim and en even more deadly focus.

The other were good as well…but they were somehow weaker, he could sense their fragility, he could clearly feel their fears…but the same couldn't be said about the man who was tearing hearts out his children bare handed, littering the floor around him with bodies.

He watched him move with the confidence and cockiness of someone used to deal with death, to kill, to shed blood…and for a moment Vincent was almost afraid.

He clenched his jaw, ignoring that feeling: it had been fear that had crippled vampires, pushing them into hiding, making them going against their very nature. Fear had made them forget what they were.

He focused his attention on the other humans, the stronger among the vampire killers…and he couldn't help smirking when he glimpsed the girl with long brown hair picked in a braid who was fighting on the upper level of Cleaves.

He knew that girl!

Kate…_Katie_…

He had to admit she had changed since their last encounter – and wasn't the world really a small place?

Six years before she had been just a scared teenager, whose skin still reeked of the blood of the vampires she had killed in that dive: the Titty Twister. She had been there, helping to destroy his home, his family.

Six years before Kate…_Katie_ had cried, screamed and bled for him. She had sobbed, begging him to stop when it had become too much for her and her body had kept fighting even as her mind slipped away, light going out from her eyes, as he punished her, branded her inside and out.

He hadn't bit her…and yet he knew the taste of her blood. He hadn't made her a vampire…not her. Not after what she had done to his home, to his people.

She had had to live, he had made sure she survived that night…and what he had done to her.

She had to live…alone in a world that didn't make sense, a world harsh and tinged in blood. She had to be alone, marked and broken…like he had been at the time.

She had changed…he could see that she had gotten stronger, quicker, her reflexes sharp, her body gracefully moving as she used the vampires' bodies as weapons, leverage and shields. She might have changed…but Vincent recalled how her fear smelled like…and it was there, underneath the salty smell of sweat, the pungent one of adrenaline running through her.

Had she recognized him? Six years before he had used his real face…not the human mask he was still wearing.

Kate was afraid…his _Katie_ who had screamed and screamed for him in Mexico and who was going to cry and scream and beg for him that night..alongside the other humans.

He would finish what he had started that night, he decided. It would be fun to see Kate, who moved like it was a complicated dance, and killed effortlessly, quiver and beg under his hands again.

He went back to look at the tattooed man fighting near the bar. He had to find his weak spot, because everyone had one, once he did he would love to take his time peeling his skin off, inch by inch.

He still had time, though, he thought, silently leaving the room, unseen.

They had just gotten started…it was only the first wave.

The night, the real one, had just begun.


End file.
